The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Action Action Action

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
Dear all

Thank you for all your contributions to this site over the years. I have been an avid reader and have been inspired by countless of you.

I reached a point in my life where I am fed up with the results I am getting. 2 years being a reader of the forum as well as doing various self development has been very valuable. It gave me the belief that I can achieve amazing things. That it is possible to do amazing things. And, the biggest realization: THE ONLY THING that PRODUCES RESULTS is ACTION! You can know the secrets of the world, but if you do not take action. You will not improve your life. You will not reach your dreams and you not even move closer to your dreams. The only important thing is action, action, action.

So I am using this intro blog as a way to post my progress of actions I have taken, and at times actions that I am considering taking in the future.

How did I get here?


I have recently left my job, because I feel that I want to explore what I can do with my life outside "the system". I also felt that having the monthly salary is a comfort which limits me from giving my absolute best.

What actions have I taken since then?

Investment company: I have started an investment company and I have 1 client currently, which I am very proud of. In order to get here I have been developing an investment methodology during the past few years (I am naturally very interested in investment markets - so I was very knowledgeable but I never turned this knowledge into action). Only during the last year did I start to apply my knowledge and start to form a company. This year was grueling. My next steps are to find new clients, continue to build a solid track record and to improve my investment returns.

Blog: I started a blog where I write about investment related concepts. The blog is 2 months old and has only had 1 viewer yet. I am trying to increase my readers for the blog. This is also my first time building a website which is cool because I learn but also frustrating because I am continually running into problems.

What actions am I planning to take in the future?

I am very systematic about how I do things and I am continually asking myself if I am taking the most valuable actions? Am I using my time in the most valuable way?

Currently I am spending 25 hours per week on my investment company. This includes applying my investment methodology, reviewing performance and communicating with my investor. I am spending 5 hours per week on my blog - usually about 3-4 hours to write an article each week and then 1-2 hours to improve the website e.g. improve SEO.

So currently I am spending 30 hours on what I call "asset creation" activities. In my life I feel 60 hours work per week is a nice amount to produce good results yet not get burnt out in the long term. Meaning I have say about 30 hours of productive time left in my week. Recently I have been thinking of how I can best apply it. I am not yet sure how I can spend those 30 hours.

I am considering doing hourly based consulting (which is similar in nature to the job I used to have, it is something I am an expert on so I earn good hourly fees). The only downside of consulting is that I am not "building" something. I feel like I am just trading time for money.

But until I figure out how I can better utilize my time it makes sense for me to at least earn money with that time. I guess this is the root problem I am currently facing. What actions can I take next? Each Saturday morning I sit for 3 hours and write about paths that lead to my goals. I find this works very well for making sense of the 'forest' of possibilities when you feel stuck. Some weeks I get great insight into what I can try next, other weeks I move forward slowly. Then during the week I action the items I believe will move me forward to my goals.

What do I want?

During the past two years I have been continually asking myself, what do I want? The weird thing about life is that during the time I had my job I really did enjoy my life. I earned a high salary, I had friends, I also had enough leave time to go on epic holidays etc. So essentially I already experienced a life that has no suffering or need for the basics of life. Yet it was not satisfying for me.

So it seems to me that the 'joy' in life comes from growth and the process of achieving things i.e. the journey. I guess that is why I was not satisfied. I have already 'achieved' at that stage and I stopped achieving now. So the things I say below are things I want yes, but the biggest reason I want these things is because of the GROWTH and challenge I will experience in my journey to achieve these things. It is about the suffering and pain I have to go through to change into the person that can reach these goals. So the next set of goals are things which I feel are somehow possible for me but also set unrealistically high in order to give me extra drive. Some of the things I want to do among other things:

* Buy a brand new Ferrari
* Start and grow a company that employs more than 10 people
* Live in a large house with an epic view of nature

How will I get here?

I am about to find out. I am going to continue using my 3 hours on Saturday to write about paths to my goals.

Obviously to buy a new Ferrari and live in a large house will require good money. How do I earn good money? Well I have to add relative value (thanks MJ for this concept!) to a market place. Currently I am aiming to do this with my investment company that has a unique investment methodology. However it might be with some other path as well.

Let the games begin!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Speed112

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
284%
Dec 5, 2013
190
540
29
Over here, over there.
So currently I am spending 30 hours on what I call "asset creation" activities.
That's awesome.

Welcome to the forum and hope you get your ferrari soon ;)

Kiyosaki has a nice way of thinking about buying stuff... in that in order to pay for a liability (like a ferrari), he must first buy (or create) an asset to pay for it. Sounds like a great way to never run out of money, and I'm sure you've got a good grip on that as an investment advisor.

Can you perhaps hint a bit at what your special methodology entails?

What is your unique value proposition for someone who would want to hire you/your company?

Also, what are your thoughts on the very volatile state of the market right now? Gold and Crypto seem like the best bet, but any sleeper investments to help one better diversify their portfolio?

You don't have to reveal your secrets :p just a general impression is enough.

As for your 30h/w dilemma... there's no better investment in my opinion than yourself. Since you want to work 60h/w, and you seem to have a high value skill... why not build an asset that leverages that skill. Don't want to do 1on1 coaching because it's too slow? Do 1onMany coaching. Build a course. Build a system. A solution.

What are the biggest pains your skill solve in your clients that they're willing to pay so much for?

Is there a way for you to solve those same pains in a more scalable way? Software/information for example. Build those assets!

And enjoy your journey :)
 

Kasimir

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
93%
Sep 4, 2020
348
323
Switzerland
Hi,
Sounds like you got a pretty good plan already. My only worry is that you could be action faking in the 30 hours you do creative work.
If I were you I'd start a company in those 30 hours. Maybe not alone because you may need more time, but why limit yourself to 60 hours. It's alright if you don't have much work but if you start a second company I would recommend you work more than 60 hours. Sorry if that's a little direct but that's just me.
Ever thought about what you would like to invent or what company you like to represent?

And yeah getting started with a new blog can be difficult. I had a blog once and without going too much into detail it's important that you network a lot with other users and write guestposts. If you need any help just let me know.

-Kasimir
 

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
Welcome to the forum and hope you get your ferrari soon ;)

Thank you :)

Kiyosaki has a nice way of thinking about buying stuff... in that in order to pay for a liability (like a ferrari), he must first buy (or create) an asset to pay for it.

This is such a cool idea thank you @Speed112 !! I have not thought of doing this before - in my mind I kept on thinking about upfront cost of the car + annual running cost and how much I have to save to buy it. Changing my mindset from how much to save to what can I own that will pay for my lifestyle really changes the game.

Can you perhaps hint a bit at what your special methodology entails?

What is your unique value proposition for someone who would want to hire you/your company?

Also, what are your thoughts on the very volatile state of the market right now? Gold and Crypto seem like the best bet, but any sleeper investments to help one better diversify their portfolio?

You don't have to reveal your secrets :p just a general impression is enough.

I don't mind revealing my secrets :) The value comes from all the little things I know (experience) which I can piece together in a valuable way.

My company solely focusses on 'global macro' investments. See: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/globalmacro "
A global macro strategy is a hedge fund or mutual fund strategy that bases its holdings primarily on the overall economic and political views of various countries or their macroeconomic principles. Holdings may include long and short positions in various equity, fixed income, currency, commodities, and futures markets."

Our strategy is focused on economics: how will interest rates change in the future, what will commodity and exchange rate prices be, how might equity market valuations as a whole change. There are many ways to skin a cat in this game. We have our own analysis process. The game is to identify in what direction a market might move in the future, at what price levels should we get in / get out and lots of risk management: how can we manage that our upside is multiples of our downside.

My unique value proposition is that we offer absolute returns meaning our performance is not correlated to the performance of various markets (because we will go long and short in various markets). So it acts as fantastic diversification for traditional investment portfolios. Clients are pension funds, life insurance companies and any other large pools of investment capital. There are other macro funds in the world yes - although they are quite rare. Most pension funds will allocate between 5% and 10% of their assets to so called alternative strategies which includes what my company is doing.

The most unique thing which we can have is a great track record with high / good returns and low drawdowns. This year has been relatively good. Initially on Covid we suffered some losses due to changing relationships between certain markets but we have adapted to the new conditions, recouped our losses since and are up for the year now.

I don't know much about crypto so I won't venture an opinion there. And yes the markets are volatile right now, I don't know what will happen in the future. I have a bunch of scenarios in my mind but only time will tell which ones will play out.

As for your 30h/w dilemma... there's no better investment in my opinion than yourself. Since you want to work 60h/w, and you seem to have a high value skill... why not build an asset that leverages that skill. Don't want to do 1on1 coaching because it's too slow? Do 1onMany coaching. Build a course. Build a system. A solution.

What are the biggest pains your skill solve in your clients that they're willing to pay so much for?

Is there a way for you to solve those same pains in a more scalable way? Software/information for example. Build those assets!

Thank you these are amazing questions to ask! I will be pondering these.

Some type of video course might work. I do not want to duplicate what was taught at university. However there is insane amounts of on the job learnings that you do not get at varsity and it is very costly for companies to train new recruits (in terms of employee time spent on teaching new recruits). What could potentially work is if I do video courses and training sessions that I sell to large companies. They win because their seasoned employees can spend more time making money than teaching new recruits what to do, and I win because I can create a course once and sell it to multiple companies. This is something I'll be thinking about.

I feel like consulting in my additional free 30 hours per week is a good start on the road to building solutions for my clients that I can scale. I'll keep on asking the questions which you mentioned:

"What are the biggest pains your skill solve in your clients that they're willing to pay so much for?

Is there a way for you to solve those same pains in a more scalable way? Software/information for example. Build those assets!"

Thank you very much for your reply!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
Hi,
Sounds like you got a pretty good plan already. My only worry is that you could be action faking in the 30 hours you do creative work.
If I were you I'd start a company in those 30 hours. Maybe not alone because you may need more time, but why limit yourself to 60 hours. It's alright if you don't have much work but if you start a second company I would recommend you work more than 60 hours. Sorry if that's a little direct but that's just me.
Ever thought about what you would like to invent or what company you like to represent?

And yeah getting started with a new blog can be difficult. I had a blog once and without going too much into detail it's important that you network a lot with other users and write guestposts. If you need any help just let me know.

-Kasimir

Hi Kasimir, thank you for your response.

I am happy to do more hours if it will move me forward faster. My only reason for targeting 60 is that I know I can consistently do 60 every week and be very productive. In the past I have felt that during weeks with very long working hours that I miss sight of the bigger picture and end up doing unnecessary things. But who knows maybe it is just an excuse my brain is making because it wants to chill :rofl:

Other than my investment company I am not sure yet what else I can do. I have some ideas and doing the 30 hours of consulting per week can potentially give me ideas and create scalable solutions for my clients that I could serve the rest of the industry with as well.

Thank you for the info on the blogging. I'll be in touch if need some help - thank you very much.
 

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
My reason for creating this thread is multifaceted. I want to:

* Inspire others like others have inspired me
* Keep a diary of my progress
* Be held accountable
* Get insights from other members.

So in line with the topic of my thread 'action action action'. I am now going to contact people I know at a big company see if there are consulting opportunities available. I feel nervous AF.

Later this week I will also be improving my blog and running my investment operation. However until I start consulting I still have time on my hands - so I will be thinking about what other actions I can be taking. To move forward.
 

Kasimir

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
93%
Sep 4, 2020
348
323
Switzerland
Hi Kasimir, thank you for your response.

I am happy to do more hours if it will move me forward faster. My only reason for targeting 60 is that I know I can consistently do 60 every week and be very productive. In the past I have felt that during weeks with very long working hours that I miss sight of the bigger picture and end up doing unnecessary things. But who knows maybe it is just an excuse my brain is making because it wants to chill :rofl:

Other than my investment company I am not sure yet what else I can do. I have some ideas and doing the 30 hours of consulting per week can potentially give me ideas and create scalable solutions for my clients that I could serve the rest of the industry with as well.

Thank you for the info on the blogging. I'll be in touch if need some help - thank you very much.
Maybe I was wrong and you can motivate yourself with your tactic to work 60 hours/week and if you have a lot on your plate you are able to work more.

I think it would be great if you do something completely else. Maybe now it's too early to start something new. You already got your new blog and your rather new consulting passion. Most entrepreneurs just like going in different directions. For example, you could start in real estate, or start an eCommerce company on the side.

When you have some sources of income it's pretty easy to add another. You just invest money and time into a business and you get a business partner. For example, you invest 2 hours/day + $20k but he invests 8-10hours/day. And you're 50/50 partners. Within six months the store will probably make more than 4k/month net profit and you have an additional source of income without having to do much for it. Just an example with an eCommerce store there are different methods to do that. :)

Wish you the best of luck with contacting big companies. It's normal to be nervous AF, especially in the beginning.

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

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
Hi all

Wow it has been four months since I posted! Time has flown!

I want to keep on grinding so I will aim to post weekly to keep my momentum going.

In my last post I said I will look for consulting opportunities in order to get additional cash flow. After 4 months of constant networking, sending out my CV, dealing with more than 30 companies and managing my investment company I found a good consulting opportunity.

My situation now looks like this: 45 hours of consulting per week, 10 hours of managing my investment company per week and 20 more hours that I can spend on other money making ventures. (I am not actively working on the blog anymore and only posting weekly - the blog is more like a hobby where I write about a topic that I am interested and skilled in. Over time the blog might become valuable and earn good money, but right now I am not trying to earn money from the blog).

Cash flow wise: after my monthly expenses I have have 2,000 USD remaining at end of each month.

I want to use my free monthly 2,000 USD and my 20 hours per week to add additional income streams to my life. Currently I only have the consulting income and the investment company income. Although I just invest all the investment income and fees back into the investment fund immediately so that my capital can grow as fast as possible there.

I am not really sure how to go about this. Current ideas I am investigating:
> Ecommerce (total newbie here) - I like Kasimir's idea of getting a partner here who does most of the work where I supply most of the cash.
> Real estate (total newbie here). I have no idea how to start here. Do you just buy properties with bank loans and then rent out the property? I'll read a few fastlane posts about real estate.
> buying profit generating websites and growing these website (somewhat skilled here).

For the next week I'll be getting more understanding of the above ideas.
 

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
I am going to start actively posting my journey here as I initially set out to do. The last few months were quite wild - I acquired a new consulting client, I immigrated to another country and I had Covid for about 2 months (I am grateful I did not have to go to hospital, but my long duration symptoms reduced my productive capacity).

Now I am fully recovered and also settled into my new country.

My monthly cashflow is still mostly linked directly to the hours I put into the consulting work. I want to find a way to scale, to get leverage on the time I invest.

My investment business is scalable and doing well, though it still takes quite a bit of time from me, and over time the profits increase however the time I allocate to it stays the same. Here I am considering hiring some virtual PAs / accountants to do some of the straightforward / routine tasks so that I free up my available time. Here I am also considering expanding my operations to include other asset classes.

At the moment I am likely going to avoid real estate because English is not really used in the new country I live in and I do not understand their property market laws very well.

I have been reading about the crypto currencies and block chain technology and I wondering if there are not maybe some epic opportunities there. Not for speculation / investment purposes, but to build a business to serve the market in some manner. Maybe develop some crypto accounting software, or software that allows coins to be easily exchanged at a cheap rate without the hassle of trading on an exchange (of course I am sure there are already business that do these type of things, but there are always ways one can improve on it).

Action steps for next week:
* Develop an outline of how I am going to expand my investment business
* Listen to a block chain / crypto podcast of some sorts

Of course these action steps are in addition to my consulting work and managing my investment business
 

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
I figure I am going to post once a week, f#ckit just do it. Whether it is a nice well rounded post with good news or a crap post with typos and no results it is okay. I am going to keep the momentum going.

I did not do develop an outline of how to expand my investment business

I did not do some crypto related thing.

Bad EmpireBuilder111. Dangit. I was being an unfocused bitch, stuck in my normal routine.

For this week: outline how I can expand my investment business
> also want to have some basic Excel thing just containing all my income streams and in here I want to outline how I can expand my investment business
> then also do some crypto thing. Actually I am going to read this fastlane post about crypto related stuff (seems like a solid educational post) HOT TOPIC - So wtf are NFTs all about? Buying JPGs? Why can't you just right-click save? Is this a giant ponzi? Far from it...

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

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
So I went through some Crypto / decentralised new economy stuff.

There are different components:
- Crypto: which is a type of accounting system. In each crypto system there is total amount of coins, and all those coins are allocated to different people in some % proportion. The blockchain saves the percentage that each person has.
- This is quite similar to money. Take the Fed for example, the Fed is in charge of the USD money system. There are a limited amount of USD available in the world and with their systems they maintain records of which banks has what amount of money.
Of course difference between the two is that: crypto is decentralized so you don't have to trust a single entity.

For crypto as investment: I think a risk is that it gets outlawed. If global politicians don't like it anymore, then they can make its use illegal. The upside is that there are likely millions (billions) of people who might still adopt to crypto in the future and 'get into' the market meaning prices can still go up.

I still don't see a clear use case for crypto, other than using it for money laundering or avoiding taxes. To make a crypto payment (which I have done before) feels like just as much effort as making a bank payment. Although crypto could be quite valuable in countries without good government e.g. Venezuela or Zimbabwe, because these countries do not have stable money and it is difficult to take money out of these countries.

Business case around crypto? Think being a broker with good marketing could be very profitable due to a growing market, however competition appears quite strong as this is now a global fad and many people are entering this business (even old established brokers are now offering crypto products). Other business could be education, where I start a company that provides investor / user education on using crypto. This is the coolest thing I have thought of so far.

Blockchain technology:

This is like a decentralized accounting system that keeps track of who owns what and it is difficult to mess with this without other finding out, hence it can be seen as trustworthy.

Most of the application of this tech I can think of is in existing companies to improve processes. You can potentially automate more business processes. A business case here is again to provide education to clients. Basically reading up and understanding exactly how it works and how it could make an existing business more money. Maybe creating video courses to sell to corporates about this could be profitable.

NFTs: I do not understand these things to well. Mechanically it makes sense, I just don't see any business case uses (yet).

Regarding investment business and income streams: I did this overview, listed my income streams and also looking at expansion possibilities for my investment business. There are two low hanging fruit here: I can expand into two areas with the business where there is overlap to the current operational skills and areas that would be acceptable to my clients from a risk perspective.

Next week actions:
- On crypto - do not yet have a clear idea about opportunities in this space (other than learning more and selling educational products about crypto). Will listen to a podcast next week.
- On investment business expansion idea 1: there is a training course which I bought on this a year ago but never went through. Will complete this course and aim to practically implement some of the learnings.
- On expansion idea 2: will create a process document to explain how to utilize this investment strategy.

Lets go!
 

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
So for prior week only took one of my three planned actions. Did the investment course to upskill myself in potential strategy to employ in my investment business. It was interesting but I do not think it is worth employing, the upside is too limited.

I did not listen to a crypto podcast and I did not create the process document.

Will aim to do these two items for next week. Listen to podcast and also create process document.
 

EmpireBuilder111

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
110%
Jun 18, 2019
10
11
I did what I planned to do. Listened to a crypto and NFT podcast and created an investment process document for new strategy.

For next week: start implementing new investment strategy based on process document I created. Of course will still be lots of refinement in the coming weeks.

The investment idea is solid, I am going to focus on getting these processes up and running. Once this is up and running will get back into considering opportunities in the new world of crypto and blockchain stuff.

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

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

More Intros...

Top