Changing lanes at 40

[The Sandman]

Howdy.

Not sure if this is the place for me or not but I'm looking to glean whatever wisdom I can here. I read TMF a few years ago and it definitely inspired a paradigm shift but at the time I wasn't in a great place to make a big move. But now I am.

I'm in the US, got my bachelors and masters engineering degrees and have worked in manufacturing my whole career. Mostly in a technical capacity with a few reports, but also as a superintendent with ~150 people under me.

For the longest time my goal was to be a plant manager, and I almost got there. I could possibly still do that but now I'm thinking of taking a different path and aiming higher. I want to run my own manufacturing business. I want to reap the freedom and rewards for my decisions.

Over my career I've been responsible for improvements that made the companies I've worked for millions of dollars per year. In return I got a stabile paycheck and benefits and regular promotions. But half the time those promotions came from changing companies. And a bad boss cares more about helping his personal career than company performance, so there has been setbacks too.

I currently have a good, cushy, comfortable job. But it's boring and with limited opportunity to grow. I have some money saved up and am getting some inheritance that could be used to support my wife and 2 kids for a few years while I transition to something else.

My plan is to buy a small manufacturing business with an SBA 7a loan. I have 2 houses and selling one should net around 200k, which I'll use for the down payment. I'm looking at businesses in the 1-2 million dollar range.

I don't know if this qualifies as "fastlane" or not, but it is a step out of the slow lane at least.

I'm glad to be here and looking forward to learning.

 

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[Jcoil]

Sounds like you've already got some of the relevant experience that would help with your venture. Looking forward to hearing more about how you progress.

Although I'm sure you've already been thinking about this at the very least, make sure the wife is on the same page as you haha!

 

[stavedeve]

Howdy.

Not sure if this is the place for me or not but I'm looking to glean whatever wisdom I can here. I read TMF a few years ago and it definitely inspired a paradigm shift but at the time I wasn't in a great place to make a big move. But now I am.

I'm in the US, got my bachelors and masters engineering degrees and have worked in manufacturing my whole career. Mostly in a technical capacity with a few reports, but also as a superintendent with ~150 people under me.

For the longest time my goal was to be a plant manager, and I almost got there. I could possibly still do that but now I'm thinking of taking a different path and aiming higher. I want to run my own manufacturing business. I want to reap the freedom and rewards for my decisions.

Over my career I've been responsible for improvements that made the companies I've worked for millions of dollars per year. In return I got a stabile paycheck and benefits and regular promotions. But half the time those promotions came from changing companies. And a bad boss cares more about helping his personal career than company performance, so there has been setbacks too.

I currently have a good, cushy, comfortable job. But it's boring and with limited opportunity to grow. I have some money saved up and am getting some inheritance that could be used to support my wife and 2 kids for a few years while I transition to something else.

My plan is to buy a small manufacturing business with an SBA 7a loan. I have 2 houses and selling one should net around 200k, which I'll use for the down payment. I'm looking at businesses in the 1-2 million dollar range.

I don't know if this qualifies as "fastlane" or not, but it is a step out of the slow lane at least.

I'm glad to be here and looking forward to learning.

I like it. A couple of thoughts:

- why not use the inheritance to buy a business or a portion of it?
- I am sure with all your experience in the manufacturing space, you could find a problem to solve. Then, you could work on it as a side hustle, while still keeping the comfy corporate job. Then, when it's proven in the marketplace, you can go full-time. This also avoids having you go into debt.

 

[The Sandman]

I like it. A couple of thoughts:

- why not use the inheritance to buy a business or a portion of it?
- I am sure with all your experience in the manufacturing space, you could find a problem to solve. Then, you could work on it as a side hustle, while still keeping the comfy corporate job. Then, when it's proven in the marketplace, you can go full-time. This also avoids having you go into debt.

Good question. The main problem is one of scale.
I haven't seen any manufacturing business listed for 150k. For that price I'd expect a 1, maybe 2 man operation. Basically the owner is the production worker. At that level you're buying a job.

SBA 7a loans allow 10-20% down, so 150k opens the door to a 1.5m business. At that level I see 7-15 employees and net profits of 200-600k/year. Enough to provide a living while covering the loan, turning into a very good living once paid off. That leverage makes a huge difference, and that's not even factoring in growth. I do want a business with growth potential as well.

Honestly, if I could I'd scale higher and get something in the 15-150m range. That would be more like the companies I've worked for, and I think running a bigger business can be easier in some ways. Harder to get into that position though, that's for sure.

 

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[Jobless]

What types of manufacturing are you thinking of?

Why not start a consultancy business, if your main strength is optimizing / improving already existing manufacturing systems?

 

[iivalky]

Howdy.

Not sure if this is the place for me or not but I'm looking to glean whatever wisdom I can here. I read TMF a few years ago and it definitely inspired a paradigm shift but at the time I wasn't in a great place to make a big move. But now I am.

I'm in the US, got my bachelors and masters engineering degrees and have worked in manufacturing my whole career. Mostly in a technical capacity with a few reports, but also as a superintendent with ~150 people under me.

For the longest time my goal was to be a plant manager, and I almost got there. I could possibly still do that but now I'm thinking of taking a different path and aiming higher. I want to run my own manufacturing business. I want to reap the freedom and rewards for my decisions.

Over my career I've been responsible for improvements that made the companies I've worked for millions of dollars per year. In return I got a stabile paycheck and benefits and regular promotions. But half the time those promotions came from changing companies. And a bad boss cares more about helping his personal career than company performance, so there has been setbacks too.

I currently have a good, cushy, comfortable job. But it's boring and with limited opportunity to grow. I have some money saved up and am getting some inheritance that could be used to support my wife and 2 kids for a few years while I transition to something else.

My plan is to buy a small manufacturing business with an SBA 7a loan. I have 2 houses and selling one should net around 200k, which I'll use for the down payment. I'm looking at businesses in the 1-2 million dollar range.

I don't know if this qualifies as "fastlane" or not, but it is a step out of the slow lane at least.

I'm glad to be here and looking forward to learning.

Hi there, welcome to the forums!
If you're able to scale and eventually profit from your business you could do very well!
Wish you luck!

 

[The Sandman]

What types of manufacturing are you thinking of?

Why not start a consultancy business, if your main strength is optimizing / improving already existing manufacturing systems?

Type doesn't really matter. I've worked at plants that made air conditioners, furniture + fixtures, fiberglass pipe, lasers, and wood products. Making stuff is making stuff. Size/scale matters more, as well as location. I will say that working with wood smells a lot nicer than fiberglass lol.

I've seen a couple custom cabinet shops for sale that are in the right price/size range. My main concern with them is the economy and valuation. Building/home products have been on an absolute tear since lockdowns and stimulus, making record profits whether well-run or not. I'm afraid of paying too much and then facing a downturn.

My stepfather was business turnaround consultant, with an accounting background. We'd talk business as I was growing up, and I remember being in high school and discussing ways to better leverage what he did. I suggested buying a struggling business so that he could reap all the rewards of improvements, and he said that's how people in the field make a ton of money, but he wasn't comfortable with that much risk. He was very financially conservative. He did end up structing pay based on results and earned a quite solid living that way. But we were never really "well off."

In the CENTS framework, consulting fails the Time component.

 

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[stavedeve]

What types of manufacturing are you thinking of?

Why not start a consultancy business, if your main strength is optimizing / improving already existing manufacturing system

I like that but is a consulting business scalable? could be, I suppose. But getting away from the S in the CENTS model. I have read a MJ's Unsrippted twice. The S is the lowest on the CENTS model with Needs be the table top that the others stand on.

 

[FIFL]

Interesting thread.

I can see many manufacturing opportunities emerging in the post-covid supply chain diversified world.

I don't have any background in manufacturing but I often think to myself surely opportunities will emerge all over the place. I read over and over again issues with batteries, chips, rare earth metals, and the over reliance on certain countries for products like PV (solar), building materials, and more.

Keen to see how you progress.

 

[Walter Hay]

@ The Sandman, With your skills and experience you might find this post interesting:

Self-Promotion: Post Your Offer, YT Channel, Services, etc. (2022)​

Walter

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Welcome aboard Sandman, great to have ya.

 

[ijerkov]

Hey Sandman,

I see you are a process engineer (and maybe a Metallica fan - Enter Sandman ).
I wonder if you could improve one common process and sell (or rent) the solution to 100s of manufacturers instead of owning one? For example, energy efficiency is a big and urgent issue now. Europe will probably have a big energy crisis this winter due to Russia cutting out the gas. If you can reduce energy consumption in the manufacturing process by only 1%, you can sell the solution to many.
Sorry if I got the wrong understanding of your expertise. In my mind, you are the guy that analyzes the manafuacturing process step by step and makes small changes to improve overall efficiency.

 

[The Sandman]

@ The Sandman, With your skills and experience you might find this post interesting:

Self-Promotion: Post Your Offer, YT Channel, Services, etc. (2022)​

Walter

Very cool. Thanks for sharing! Neat to see we have experience in the same industries.

Many of the problems I've solved stemmed from lost knowledge. The issue goes on for months or years with multiple attempts to fix and it turns out to be something pretty basic, and then someone says something along the lines of "Oh so that's why (former employee) used to do it that way!" As you described a process that previously worked but now wasn't, can I assume this involved forgetting something that was once known? Or was something else at play?

 

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[AceVentures]

Welcome to the forum friend. I like your line of thought - you're definitely thinking about the right questions.

Let's entertain this idea some. Maybe manufacturing cabinets isn't the best idea with a host of new developments hitting a tough market with reduced demand. I'm sure valuations would also be higher given record profits past few years.

What's being largely manufactured abroad for which there is a demand for in recessionary environments?

What possible intermediary product for essential goods could you foresee shortages of in the following few years?

I'm no manufacturing expert, I'm just spitballing here to see if the exchange of ideas can spark something new.

Could there be opportunities in food and self-sustenance? I see more and more people beginning to recognize the importance of self-reliance from the food supply chain, especially in big cities. What if you got into producing, idk, gardening equipment? Green houses? I especially like geodesic domes, as they make for the most sound structures with the least amount of building materials. Their structure also relies on modular pieces, so manufacturing is simpler. If you took over a manufacturing facility that deals with making steel pipes, that's certainly a market you could tap into by making and bundling equipment needed for building geodesic domes, either for homes or for gardening/growing food.

Any of these ideas spark any interest?

 

[Walter Hay]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing! Neat to see we have experience in the same industries.

Many of the problems I've solved stemmed from lost knowledge. The issue goes on for months or years with multiple attempts to fix and it turns out to be something pretty basic, and then someone says something along the lines of "Oh so that's why (former employee) used to do it that way!" As you described a process that previously worked but now wasn't, can I assume this involved forgetting something that was once known? Or was something else at play?

The case I described was a completely new mechanical process that had been set up by Formica, and they had no experience in dealing with the new problem that their new process introduced.

The main reasons the 300 chemists were unable to solve the problem that was costing Formica millions of dollars a day were that they had absolutely no experience in problem solving and they had tunnel vision that prevented them from thinking outside the square.

Their experience amounted to ensuring that the correct amount of the correct ingredients went into the blender in which the melamine formaldehyde was mixed.

During my time working as a troubleshooter selling highly technical chemical products I learnt by deduction how to identify any type of chemical that would have an inherent release property. That deduction never let me down and I ended up producing several formulas that I went on to sell in large quantities.

Without formal qualifications I was not inhibited by the rules, whereas Formica's chemists with letters after their name could not handle anything that required problem solving.

Walter

 

[Rabby]

If you're trying to keep manufacturing in the US, there are people who want to see more of that happen. I even know a few, so DM me if you want an introduction. More importantly, this will be a recurring national priority as we re-evaluate supply chain risk. It's very much on the radar, and US money will be looking for ways to get back into this sector.

 

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[Andy Black]

Howdy.

Not sure if this is the place for me or not but I'm looking to glean whatever wisdom I can here. I read TMF a few years ago and it definitely inspired a paradigm shift but at the time I wasn't in a great place to make a big move. But now I am.

I'm in the US, got my bachelors and masters engineering degrees and have worked in manufacturing my whole career. Mostly in a technical capacity with a few reports, but also as a superintendent with ~150 people under me.

For the longest time my goal was to be a plant manager, and I almost got there. I could possibly still do that but now I'm thinking of taking a different path and aiming higher. I want to run my own manufacturing business. I want to reap the freedom and rewards for my decisions.

Over my career I've been responsible for improvements that made the companies I've worked for millions of dollars per year. In return I got a stabile paycheck and benefits and regular promotions. But half the time those promotions came from changing companies. And a bad boss cares more about helping his personal career than company performance, so there has been setbacks too.

I currently have a good, cushy, comfortable job. But it's boring and with limited opportunity to grow. I have some money saved up and am getting some inheritance that could be used to support my wife and 2 kids for a few years while I transition to something else.

My plan is to buy a small manufacturing business with an SBA 7a loan. I have 2 houses and selling one should net around 200k, which I'll use for the down payment. I'm looking at businesses in the 1-2 million dollar range.

I don't know if this qualifies as "fastlane" or not, but it is a step out of the slow lane at least.

I'm glad to be here and looking forward to learning.

Welcome to the forum @The Sandman. Super interesting thread.

On the marketing/sales side, what’s your ideal? Direct-to-consumer? Selling to big chains? Or?

Where’s the puck going? What do people buy even more of when there’s a downturn? (Home offices, space saving cabinets/desks, clever storage, energy saving solutions, self-sufficiency solutions, etc.)

Consulting can leverage your knowledge and skills, grow your network, expose you to opportunities, and pay handsomely. Whether it’s divorced from your time or not depends on how you charge. Maybe you charge a retainer after the heavy lifting is done? Or maybe you license a solution?


Two of my favourite business quotes:

“Who already has your customers?”
(Jay Abraham)

“The most important formula in business is R+R=Profit, where R+R is Repeat Business plus Referrals.”
(Blaise Brosnan)

 

[The Sandman]

Wow thank you all for your responses! I'm impressed with this forum!

@Rabby: DM sent. Yes I'm in the US and looking to stay here. I agree there are a lot of reasons to manufacture here, and we absolutely can be competitive. The company I'm at now has been making record profits as customers who have been sourcing from China have been forced to look elsewhere.

Re Marketing: as I'm looking for an established business it'll already be set up here, so I'm mainly interested in having something that works and isn't too fickle. My experience is mostly producing items for other businesses so that's my preference, but I'm open to other business models. One company I'm looking at makes consumer items, the biggest being automotive storage accessory. Looking at their website I saw no mention of what I think should be one of their biggest selling points: less aerodynamic drag/better mpg than competitive styles. How can they not be pushing that when gas prices are so high??

Re Business cycles: We are coming off a housing boom, but people will still need houses. Cabinet shops will still be a good business to be in, the question is more about getting in one in position to ride out a soft market. Manufacturing tends to be a business that isn't able to change very quickly. I've seen companies try to chase markets but they were too slow and consistently ended up on the wrong side, much like your average guy playing the stock market tends to buy high and sell low. Better to be honest with how quickly you can react, let the wave you missed go, and position yourself to catch the next one.

The product being made is a secondary consideration. A cook can go to a different restaurant and quickly learn to cook a different type of food. A farmer can go to a different farm and quickly learn to grow different crops. A manufacturing guy can go do a different plant and make very different things.

I've had my hands in the production of: fuses for power lines, eye glasses, industrial air conditioners, lumber, and lasers. I like the business of making stuff. My favorite "product" is answering "How can we make more money when we make the stuff we make?"

 

[jasonharnum]

Howdy.

Not sure if this is the place for me or not but I'm looking to glean whatever wisdom I can here. I read TMF a few years ago and it definitely inspired a paradigm shift but at the time I wasn't in a great place to make a big move. But now I am.

I'm in the US, got my bachelors and masters engineering degrees and have worked in manufacturing my whole career. Mostly in a technical capacity with a few reports, but also as a superintendent with ~150 people under me.

For the longest time my goal was to be a plant manager, and I almost got there. I could possibly still do that but now I'm thinking of taking a different path and aiming higher. I want to run my own manufacturing business. I want to reap the freedom and rewards for my decisions.

Over my career I've been responsible for improvements that made the companies I've worked for millions of dollars per year. In return I got a stabile paycheck and benefits and regular promotions. But half the time those promotions came from changing companies. And a bad boss cares more about helping his personal career than company performance, so there has been setbacks too.

I currently have a good, cushy, comfortable job. But it's boring and with limited opportunity to grow. I have some money saved up and am getting some inheritance that could be used to support my wife and 2 kids for a few years while I transition to something else.

My plan is to buy a small manufacturing business with an SBA 7a loan. I have 2 houses and selling one should net around 200k, which I'll use for the down payment. I'm looking at businesses in the 1-2 million dollar range.

I don't know if this qualifies as "fastlane" or not, but it is a step out of the slow lane at least.

I'm glad to be here and looking forward to learning.

Jump!

 

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[_Master_Shake]

Sandman, you and I are a lot alike.

I also have my bachelors in Industrial Engineering, MS in Industrial Management.
Spent the last 11 years working for two Fortune 100 companies, currently work for a private manufacturer of commercial products. I've done everything from production supervision, manufacturing engineering, project management (new capital installations) and currently have been in QC for the last 5 years.

My goal is to also come up with my own product and manufacture it in the US.

I feel like the last decade has helped me build a good foundational understanding of things like DFM, tooling design, Quality Control, supplier selection, PPAP's, supply chain, etc...

Where in the US are you located?

 

[Kirk84]

Hi Sandman,

I‘m a mechanical engineer with 10 years of working experience at production companies (including BMW plant). Similar to you, I read TMF but I quickly made up my mind to not go into production or mechanical engineering because

1. production is asset heavy and I would need a lot of cash to start here
2. production companies are moving East, because of high Labour cost in Germany
3. scalability is much harder compared to software

It’s hard to deny these three facts and there’s a certain risk involved (which you’re already aware of).

Personally, I switched to a low maintenance job where I can easily start building software on the side. I read some people here suggested you go into consulting, but what about software? Is there a problem in your industry, that you can solve using software?

However, if you chose to continue your path and buy an existing business, there’s a good HBR guide on buying a small business.

 

[The Sandman]

Sandman, you and I are a lot alike.

I also have my bachelors in Industrial Engineering, MS in Industrial Management.
Spent the last 11 years working for two Fortune 100 companies, currently work for a private manufacturer of commercial products. I've done everything from production supervision, manufacturing engineering, project management (new capital installations) and currently have been in QC for the last 5 years.

My goal is to also come up with my own product and manufacture it in the US.

I feel like the last decade has helped me build a good foundational understanding of things like DFM, tooling design, Quality Control, supplier selection, PPAP's, supply chain, etc...

Where in the US are you located?

Nice. I've also though about coming up with my own product and producing it. I'd like to some day, but there's more risk. Once I acquire a business I'll look to grow it, and one way to do that is to come up with new products.

I'm in Oregon.

 

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[The Sandman]

Hi Sandman,

I‘m a mechanical engineer with 10 years of working experience at production companies (including BMW plant). Similar to you, I read TMF but I quickly made up my mind to not go into production or mechanical engineering because

1. production is asset heavy and I would need a lot of cash to start here
2. production companies are moving East, because of high Labour cost in Germany
3. scalability is much harder compared to software

It’s hard to deny these three facts and there’s a certain risk involved (which you’re already aware of).

Personally, I switched to a low maintenance job where I can easily start building software on the side. I read some people here suggested you go into consulting, but what about software? Is there a problem in your industry, that you can solve using software?

However, if you chose to continue your path and buy an existing business, there’s a good HBR guide on buying a small business.

I agree it's a daunting task, and not long ago seemed completely out of reach so I wasn't even considering it.

1. You're absolutely right, especially at the scale of business where we've been employed. I don't have access to $500 million+. But with SBA loans I have access to $2 million, which can get me into a small (tiny, comparatively) operation. Something too small to afford hiring me in my current role, but could benefit from my skills and experience and pay much more as the owner.

Small shops can capitalize on niche opportunities that don't interest large operations.

2. Yes, manufacturing as a whole migrates towards cheaper labor. But Germany is still a place that makes stuff and that isn't going to entirely disappear. The key is to leverage the advantages of producing where you are: service, speed, quality, responsiveness, and even price when shipping costs are high.
There's a surprising number of small shops that no one has ever heard of here in the USA, and I bet the same can be said for Germany.

3. Yes, scalability is a challenge here. Can't digitally reproduce the product for free. But that difficulty also provides security. The scalability challenge here is similar to real estate. At some point there's only so much you can get from a single piece of property, so the growth strategy is to get more property.
2 paths to scale once the business has reached optimal size:
a) set up management to handle the day-to-day and free up my time to buy and run another operation. This is analogous to rental property.
b) sell the improved business and use the cash to buy a bigger operation. Like flipping houses.

Not saying it's easy and there's definitely risk. But I know it's possible because people are doing it.

 

[ygtrhos]

Hi Sandman,

I‘m a mechanical engineer with 10 years of working experience at production companies (including BMW plant). Similar to you, I read TMF but I quickly made up my mind to not go into production or mechanical engineering because

1. production is asset heavy and I would need a lot of cash to start here
2. production companies are moving East, because of high Labour cost in Germany
3. scalability is much harder compared to software

It’s hard to deny these three facts and there’s a certain risk involved (which you’re already aware of).

Personally, I switched to a low maintenance job where I can easily start building software on the side. I read some people here suggested you go into consulting, but what about software? Is there a problem in your industry, that you can solve using software?

However, if you chose to continue your path and buy an existing business, there’s a good HBR guide on buying a small business.

Mechanical engineer from Germany as well.

I believe that there are a lot of things that can be moved over the border to Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey etc.

In 2016, we bought train sets (ICE 4) from Siemens & Bombardier, whose cars are produced in Wroclaw, Poland. The car is basically many pieces of steel welded & screwed together. These cannot be done by any welder and any company, they have to go through audits and educational courses etc. for ensuring the quality throughout its lifetime. In addition, they have to be checked by a qualified engineer after the welder, which is specially educated to assess weld quality.

Even after these, turns out that we have significant problems in the welds of middle girders (basically one of the three most important carrier girders). We had to take 45-50 brand new trains under 500k km (lifetime is supposed to be 12m km) out of operation for months, so that these welds can be strengthened.

Now everything from these countries are under suspect. Things can go wrong very easily. In Poland, you pay a welder a third of what you do in Germany, but you are less sure what you are getting.

I gave an example from Poland but my home country (Turkey) is no different. I have seen welders that have a decade of experience, who have no idea what gas they are using. They have not read what is on the gas vessel basically.

On these trains, the bogies (rolling material) comes from Graz, Austria. They have Swedish and German components. No problems in these.

This is just one example. We are talking about bulk steel, which is quite standardized. What you need to do is to follow a written procedure and you are done with manufacturing. But the quality problems are there. And our purchasing department (spending 10-digits Euros a year) cares a lot about where we buy from, because of such experiences.

I just cannot imagine what kind of things might happen with plastics or rubber, where health hazards might occur due to wrong manufacturing.

I personally believe that there will always be some manufacturing in Germany (especially now that East Germany is there with its low living costs). Even in countries like Netherlands, Switzerland (which are more expensive) etc. there will always be manufacturing for things that are very quality sensitive. (high-tech engineering products)

 

[Karume]

Howdy.

Not sure if this is the place for me or not but I'm looking to glean whatever wisdom I can here. I read TMF a few years ago and it definitely inspired a paradigm shift but at the time I wasn't in a great place to make a big move. But now I am.

I'm in the US, got my bachelors and masters engineering degrees and have worked in manufacturing my whole career. Mostly in a technical capacity with a few reports, but also as a superintendent with ~150 people under me.

For the longest time my goal was to be a plant manager, and I almost got there. I could possibly still do that but now I'm thinking of taking a different path and aiming higher. I want to run my own manufacturing business. I want to reap the freedom and rewards for my decisions.

Over my career I've been responsible for improvements that made the companies I've worked for millions of dollars per year. In return I got a stabile paycheck and benefits and regular promotions. But half the time those promotions came from changing companies. And a bad boss cares more about helping his personal career than company performance, so there has been setbacks too.

I currently have a good, cushy, comfortable job. But it's boring and with limited opportunity to grow. I have some money saved up and am getting some inheritance that could be used to support my wife and 2 kids for a few years while I transition to something else.

My plan is to buy a small manufacturing business with an SBA 7a loan. I have 2 houses and selling one should net around 200k, which I'll use for the down payment. I'm looking at businesses in the 1-2 million dollar range.

I don't know if this qualifies as "fastlane" or not, but it is a step out of the slow lane at least.

I'm glad to be here and looking forward to learning.

You are in the right place. The late Colonel Harland Sanders started KFC when he was in his 60s...it is never too late...

I am 42 and a language teacher for 2 decades already and I am just starting my journey toward Fastlane Entrepreneurship.

In 10 years from now I want to achieve total financial freedom.

 

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[Zardiw]

Howdy.

Not sure if this is the place for me or not but I'm looking to glean whatever wisdom I can here. I read TMF a few years ago and it definitely inspired a paradigm shift but at the time I wasn't in a great place to make a big move. But now I am.

I'm in the US, got my bachelors and masters engineering degrees and have worked in manufacturing my whole career. Mostly in a technical capacity with a few reports, but also as a superintendent with ~150 people under me.

For the longest time my goal was to be a plant manager, and I almost got there. I could possibly still do that but now I'm thinking of taking a different path and aiming higher. I want to run my own manufacturing business. I want to reap the freedom and rewards for my decisions.

Over my career I've been responsible for improvements that made the companies I've worked for millions of dollars per year. In return I got a stabile paycheck and benefits and regular promotions. But half the time those promotions came from changing companies. And a bad boss cares more about helping his personal career than company performance, so there has been setbacks too.

I currently have a good, cushy, comfortable job. But it's boring and with limited opportunity to grow. I have some money saved up and am getting some inheritance that could be used to support my wife and 2 kids for a few years while I transition to something else.

My plan is to buy a small manufacturing business with an SBA 7a loan. I have 2 houses and selling one should net around 200k, which I'll use for the down payment. I'm looking at businesses in the 1-2 million dollar range.

I don't know if this qualifies as "fastlane" or not, but it is a step out of the slow lane at least.

I'm glad to be here and looking forward to learning.

F*ck 40....I'm trying at 70+.......lol.....be VERY happy you've got a 30 year lead....lmao
Z
PS. My first successful project took off at 50 years old.......fwtfw.

 

[Karume]

F*ck 40....I'm trying at 70+.......lol.....be VERY happy you've got a 30 year lead....lmao
Z
PS. My first successful project took off at 50 years old.......fwtfw.

It's never too late...✌

 

[The Sandman]

EXECUTION - I quit my job and bought a shoe store

I'm ready for your best Al Bundy jokes! Let 'em rip! My intro thread: INTRO - Changing lanes at 40 This definitely was not the original plan! I was searching for manufacturing but not finding much, and what I did find were either poorly priced or without financial records. I widened my search...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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