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CNC machinist on the journey to entrepreneurship

Cpreston92

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Dec 6, 2022
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Hello everyone! I'll try to keep this short and to the point.

My name is Cody, and I am 30 years old. I am a CNC machinist by trade, living life on the sidewalk. (That doesn't feel good to type) I have always felt I have uncommon beliefs about what life is all about, so I extremely happy to find a community of like-minded individuals. I am (or was) on the sidewalk for the same reason as most, I do not know what tomorrow has in store for me and saving/investing/living an uncomfortable life for the next 35 years with the HOPES of being able to retire comfortably sounds like the worst idea anyone's ever had.

I attempted to start my own small machine shop out of my garage. Well, I did actually but despite knowing how to completely design and manufacture parts and products in my own garage, I have basically no knowledge on how to run a business so as you can imagine it did not work out. I ended up taking another job at a medical machine shop and semi-abandoning my business. I leaned an important lesson.

I found myself at Barnes and nobles recently, browsing through the business and finance books and was overwhelmed by the amount. My gut tells me, most of these books are probably garbage recycled information. I turned to google and started hunting for a book that I felt would give me the inspiration and insight I was after, and I found 'The Millionaire Fastlane .' I have not read a book in YEARS, and I could not put this book down. It absolutely changed my life forever. I dropped all my bad habits and vices, started eating better, removing distractions, listening to podcasts, reading, learning, and just becoming more self-aware.

Now I have a sense of direction and new goals. I want my freedom, and I will do whatever I need to in order to obtain it. While I always had the mindset "I need to use what I already know to become successful," I know now that's not necessarily true, and I have the ability to learn anything I want.

Without rambling on any further, I just want to say I am happy to become a part of this community and grow with you all!

What are your thoughts on my situation? Would you suggest stick with CNC manufacturing or switch to a more passive style approach to earning an income? OR both, grow a manufacturing business into a valuable asset, liquidate and roll that into other investments and opportunities?
 
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Jobless

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Jun 8, 2017
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I'd try something related to CNC manufacturing, but not necessarily what you have done thus far. For example, you could sell education on CNC manufacturing, sell CNC software, buy/sell/import/export CNC machines, install CNC machines, transport CNC machines, repair CNC machines, create/sell tools used in CNC manufacturing, design machine shops, invent a new type of CNC machine that is faster or more effective in terms of waste/energy, etc.

Somewhere there is an unmet need that you can fulfill at scale.
 

Cpreston92

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Dec 6, 2022
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I'd try something related to CNC manufacturing, but not necessarily what you have done thus far. For example, you could sell education on CNC manufacturing, sell CNC software, buy/sell/import/export CNC machines, install CNC machines, transport CNC machines, repair CNC machines, create/sell tools used in CNC manufacturing, design machine shops, invent a new type of CNC machine that is faster or more effective in terms of waste/energy, etc.

Somewhere there is an unmet need that you can fulfill at scale.
Those are good ideas, thank you! I have played with the idea of selling education, as I have worked with many machinists and one thing I’ve found is - there are a ton of them, but very few actually truly know what they’re doing.

I also love the idea of selling CNC tools and equipment! I’ve used all kinds and could definitely improve on many common designs

Thank you for the ideas!
 

Robdavis

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Nov 16, 2022
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Hello everyone! I'll try to keep this short and to the point.

My name is Cody, and I am 30 years old. I am a CNC machinist by trade, living life on the sidewalk. (That doesn't feel good to type) I have always felt I have uncommon beliefs about what life is all about, so I extremely happy to find a community of like-minded individuals. I am (or was) on the sidewalk for the same reason as most, I do not know what tomorrow has in store for me and saving/investing/living an uncomfortable life for the next 35 years with the HOPES of being able to retire comfortably sounds like the worst idea anyone's ever had.

I attempted to start my own small machine shop out of my garage. Well, I did actually but despite knowing how to completely design and manufacture parts and products in my own garage, I have basically no knowledge on how to run a business so as you can imagine it did not work out. I ended up taking another job at a medical machine shop and semi-abandoning my business. I leaned an important lesson.

I found myself at Barnes and nobles recently, browsing through the business and finance books and was overwhelmed by the amount. My gut tells me, most of these books are probably garbage recycled information. I turned to google and started hunting for a book that I felt would give me the inspiration and insight I was after, and I found 'The Millionaire Fastlane .' I have not read a book in YEARS, and I could not put this book down. It absolutely changed my life forever. I dropped all my bad habits and vices, started eating better, removing distractions, listening to podcasts, reading, learning, and just becoming more self-aware.

Now I have a sense of direction and new goals. I want my freedom, and I will do whatever I need to in order to obtain it. While I always had the mindset "I need to use what I already know to become successful," I know now that's not necessarily true, and I have the ability to learn anything I want.

Without rambling on any further, I just want to say I am happy to become a part of this community and grow with you all!

What are your thoughts on my situation? Would you suggest stick with CNC manufacturing or switch to a more passive style approach to earning an income? OR both, grow a manufacturing business into a valuable asset, liquidate and roll that into other investments and opportunities?
Could you manufacture executive toys or something like that, in your garage and then sell them direct to the public on a website like ebay or etsy?
This probably wouldn't be very scalable so you wouldn't make a huge amount of money doing it, but it could be a good side hustle and would give you practice at despatch, marketing, sales, distribution etc, so you could learn a lot. It might be a stepping stone to the sorts of ideas that Eudaimonium suggested.
 
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Cpreston92

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Dec 6, 2022
3
3
Could you manufacture executive toys or something like that, in your garage and then sell them direct to the public on a website like ebay or etsy?
This probably wouldn't be very scalable so you wouldn't make a huge amount of money doing it, but it could be a good side hustle and would give you practice at despatch, marketing, sales, distribution etc, so you could learn a lot. It might be a stepping stone to the sorts of ideas that Eudaimonium suggested.
Yes I could! I don’t think that’s a bad idea either. That’s actually the path I was on before. I was making aftermarket automotive parts, that’s another industry I’m familiar with. I simply did not push hard enough, I was lazy and wasn’t working towards the goal and thats why I ultimately failed.

My thoughts now are, if I could get back to it and push harder this time, more products, better products, etc. that would allow me the extra income I need to hopefully leave my day job and give me more time to work on things that have potential to change my situation.

This is not a fully passive plan, as I still have to make the parts, but I could build up inventory and then allow myself a few days of freedom to work on the bigger picture
 

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