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Fastlane Success (8 figure exit!) - Now Back to the Starting Ground !!

MveloWins

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OK so there's a lot to my story - my journey and how it all happened (I'd be willing to share if there's any interest) - but long story short I have recently achieved the pinnacle of the 'fastlane journey' - selling my online business a year ago and amassing a low 8 figure net worth.

This was not a 'get rich quick' story either as this took the better part of the last 15 years to begin my entrepreneurship journey full time, and eventually build a business to the point of sale a decade later. I was working a full time corporate job (with my slowlane degree!) prior to embarking on this wild ride. I quit at 25 years old, and never looked back again or had a boss since that lovely July day. There were MANY failures, trials and tribulations along the way. If you want a 'process' and not an 'event' ---> I am no better example of that.

I am now at a point of figuring out what the best next steps forward are. Some of the things I have started working towards is thinking about starting another business for fun rather than just profit (orienting it closer towards a passion), currently investing the proceeds of the business sale, and gauging if there are other values to chase in this lifetime vs. the constant pursuit of building / scaling / selling businesses and building wealth for wealth's sake (once you figure out your 'enough').

I am late 30s with a small family (one child) and *think* I have close to enough to make my money last until the day I die, so pursuing extra wealth through hard work and additional sacrifice is becoming less and less appealing with each passing day. I have experienced all the exotic rides, dream vacations, top restaurants and parties (all responsibly of course) and many of all the other luxury goods we all aspire to. While great in its own right, and was a lot of my motivation from the get-go -- much of that has lost its charms on me over the years.

Additionally, I am looking forward to merging my life towards providing value to any/all that want help with business advice in any facet. My schedule is open now (as I consider myself partially retired) and I am open to mentoring / coaching anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship, scaling a business or just thinking of ideas / niches to pursue.

I haven't participated much on these boards while pursuing my entrepreneurial journey but am at a point now where I have the time, motivation and willingness to engage in helping others achieve 'the dream.'

In a way I am now back to ground zero - and yes, even though the pressures of day-to-day paycheck are further beyond me, I am in many ways faced with the same but different constraints that I was bootstrapping and growing a business, or trying to figure what is it now that I'm 'optimizing' for.

I am very conservative in my investments as well, so having money does not automatically enroll you in some special club where now 'making money' becomes much easier (in facts sometimes its the opposite when you are afraid of losing it all).

For those wondering how I made the bulk of my money it was through various e-com ventures, latest being an Amazon FBA business that led to an exit. The 'process' took me the better part of the last decade (the Amazon business actually was started exactly a decade ago this month!) - but I have been entrepreneurial in various facets since the age of 14.

While I haven't hit all the tenets of CENTS with my last business (primarily violating control and entry) - the rest of them were hit right on the mark to make it a success.

I'm still learning and browsing these forums weekly but will plan and contribute more as time goes on!
Congratulations on all your success. What an inspiration! Looking forward to learning from you.
 
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fastlane_dad

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Running a quick french--> english translator I think this is the question you are asking ... '
'Please tell me while you were in the process of wanting to get started (at the beginning of setting up your Amazon business) or finding products to sell, how long were you stressed or when did it end? stopped ?
Thank you'
Honestly the stress never goes away. There are different types of stress and questions / mindsets along the way...

The best I can summarize - is it just changes. Here is a typical map experienced with the most recent business we built up and sold...over the course of a decade

1 - Product research / what to sell / OMG I'm making a big investment / Will this work out ... I'm putting in LOTS of work without instant results...and yet I'm not rich or an overnight success, the gurus lied!!
2 - I'm converting some sales, I'm making a profit, how do I scale ...
3 - My company is growing, I need to add and hire employees, increase my product offerings ...
4 - How do we take the business a notch higher, look for other ways of advertising, promotion etc ...
5 - How much bigger do we want to grow this company, is there a better use of my time, are we working on the business or in the business....which ultimate leads to....is it time to sell ...
6 - Yes - we're selling - is this the right move?
7 - Yes! The business is sold ... what now!!??

Long story short, there are stresses and challenges every single damn day.

The funny part is post business sale, and accumulation of wealth - the stress is ever present, just in a different form.

There are new questions that pop up now that the business is sold. In some ways the new questions are tougher to answer then the ones I had a decade back. The variables are different. My age is different. My motivations are different. My values changed. I also have a growing family etc. But that won't stop me from evolving and doing what I need to do to move forward !!

As they say you must love the process.

The journey , whether with business or any other part of my life has been much 'sweeter' then the destination.

The 'event' itself (selling a business, getting married, buying a lambo, reaching many travel destinations) - has been mostly irrelevant and very uneventful.

It is the labor, thoughts, contemplations, ups and downs, emotions, arguments, pondering if this is all worth it along the way --- that are REALLY the prize to it all.

Congratulations on all your success. What an inspiration! Looking forward to learning from you.
Thanks! Looking forward to providing and delivering as much value as I can. And learning / refining how to deliver my message simultaneously!
 
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Albert KOUADJA

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Honnêtement, le stress ne s'en va jamais. Il existe différents types de stress et de questions/états d'esprit en cours de route...

Le mieux que je puisse résumer - c'est que ça change. Voici une carte typique expérimentée avec l'entreprise la plus récente que nous avons créée et vendue... au cours d'une décennie

1 - Recherche de produits / quoi vendre / OMG Je fais un gros investissement / Est-ce que ça marchera... Je fais BEAUCOUP de travail sans résultats instantanés... et pourtant je ne suis pas riche ou un succès du jour au lendemain , les gourous ont menti !!
2 - Je convertis des ventes, je réalise des bénéfices, comment puis-je évoluer ...
3 - Mon entreprise grandit, j'ai besoin d'ajouter et d'embaucher des employés, d'augmenter mon offre de produits...
4 - Comment faire monter le business d'un cran plus haut, chercher d'autres moyens de publicité, de promotion etc...
5 - Dans quelle mesure voulons-nous développer cette entreprise, y a-t-il une meilleure utilisation de mon temps, travaillons-nous sur l'entreprise ou dans l'entreprise... ce qui mène finalement à... est-il temps de vendre. ..
6 - Oui - nous vendons - est-ce la bonne décision ?
7 - Oui ! L'entreprise est vendue ... et maintenant !!??

Pour faire court, il y a du stress et des défis chaque jour.

La partie amusante est la vente après la vente et l'accumulation de richesses - le stress est toujours présent, mais sous une forme différente.

De nouvelles questions surgissent maintenant que l'entreprise est vendue. À certains égards, il est plus difficile de répondre aux nouvelles questions que celles que j'avais il y a dix ans. Les variables sont différentes. Mon âge est différent. Mes motivations sont différentes. Mes valeurs ont changé. J'ai aussi une famille qui s'agrandit etc. Mais ça ne m'empêchera pas d'évoluer et de faire ce qu'il faut pour avancer !!

As they say you must love the process.

The journey , whether with business or any other part of my life has been much 'sweeter' then the destination.

The 'event' itself (selling a business, getting married, buying a lambo, reaching many travel destinations) - has been mostly irrelevant and very uneventful.
Ok c'est bien noté. Merci beaucoup pour éclaircissements.
It is the labor, thoughts, contemplations, ups and downs, emotions, arguments, pondering if this is all worth it along the way --- that are REALLY the prize to it all.


Thanks! Looking forward to providing and delivering as much value as I can. And learning / refining how to deliver my message simultaneously!
 

Albert KOUADJA

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Honestly the stress never goes away. There are different types of stress and questions / mindsets along the way...

The best I can summarize - is it just changes. Here is a typical map experienced with the most recent business we built up and sold...over the course of a decade

1 - Product research / what to sell / OMG I'm making a big investment / Will this work out ... I'm putting in LOTS of work without instant results...and yet I'm not rich or an overnight success, the gurus lied!!
2 - I'm converting some sales, I'm making a profit, how do I scale ...
3 - My company is growing, I need to add and hire employees, increase my product offerings ...
4 - How do we take the business a notch higher, look for other ways of advertising, promotion etc ...
5 - How much bigger do we want to grow this company, is there a better use of my time, are we working on the business or in the business....which ultimate leads to....is it time to sell ...
6 - Yes - we're selling - is this the right move?
7 - Yes! The business is sold ... what now!!??

Long story short, there are stresses and challenges every single damn day.

The funny part is post business sale, and accumulation of wealth - the stress is ever present, just in a different form.

There are new questions that pop up now that the business is sold. In some ways the new questions are tougher to answer then the ones I had a decade back. The variables are different. My age is different. My motivations are different. My values changed. I also have a growing family etc. But that won't stop me from evolving and doing what I need to do to move forward !!

As they say you must love the process.

The journey , whether with business or any other part of my life has been much 'sweeter' then the destination.

The 'event' itself (selling a business, getting married, buying a lambo, reaching many travel destinations) - has been mostly irrelevant and very uneventful.

It is the labor, , contemplations, ups and downs, emotions, arguments, pondering if this is all worth it along the way --- that are REALLY the prize to it all.


Thanks! Looking forward to providing and delivering as much value as I can. And learning / refining how to deliver my message simultane


Ok well noted. Thank you very much for clarifications
 
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radiximus

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Honestly the stress never goes away. There are different types of stress and questions / mindsets along the way...

The best I can summarize - is it just changes. Here is a typical map experienced with the most recent business we built up and sold...over the course of a decade

1 - Product research / what to sell / OMG I'm making a big investment / Will this work out ... I'm putting in LOTS of work without instant results...and yet I'm not rich or an overnight success, the gurus lied!!
2 - I'm converting some sales, I'm making a profit, how do I scale ...
3 - My company is growing, I need to add and hire employees, increase my product offerings ...
4 - How do we take the business a notch higher, look for other ways of advertising, promotion etc ...
5 - How much bigger do we want to grow this company, is there a better use of my time, are we working on the business or in the business....which ultimate leads to....is it time to sell ...
6 - Yes - we're selling - is this the right move?
7 - Yes! The business is sold ... what now!!??

Long story short, there are stresses and challenges every single damn day.

The funny part is post business sale, and accumulation of wealth - the stress is ever present, just in a different form.

There are new questions that pop up now that the business is sold. In some ways the new questions are tougher to answer then the ones I had a decade back. The variables are different. My age is different. My motivations are different. My values changed. I also have a growing family etc. But that won't stop me from evolving and doing what I need to do to move forward !!

As they say you must love the process.

The journey , whether with business or any other part of my life has been much 'sweeter' then the destination.

The 'event' itself (selling a business, getting married, buying a lambo, reaching many travel destinations) - has been mostly irrelevant and very uneventful.

It is the labor, thoughts, contemplations, ups and downs, emotions, arguments, pondering if this is all worth it along the way --- that are REALLY the prize to it all.


Thanks! Looking forward to providing and delivering as much value as I can. And learning / refining how to deliver my message simultaneously!
I understand the game now is much different to when you started but i do have a question about starting off on ecom with low capital. Do you source products to sell in a certain niche from alibaba/distributors or go through the design and manufacture process yourself and design your own product.
I am guessing the second option is obviously better since you can work on flaws and create more value, but does this not cost more? Does it sell better than the cheap stuff before people realise the quality/value? (i am just wondering if buyers assume its also a cheap product riddled with flaws)
 

NeoDialectic

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I understand the game now is much different to when you started but i do have a question about starting off on ecom with low capital. Do you source products to sell in a certain niche from alibaba/distributors or go through the design and manufacture process yourself and design your own product.
I am guessing the second option is obviously better since you can work on flaws and create more value, but does this not cost more? Does it sell better than the cheap stuff before people realise the quality/value? (i am just wondering if buyers assume its also a cheap product riddled with flaws)
As you guessed, manufacturing your own is always better but it's also more investment. That's why we rely so heavily on our TESTING model. We ultimately want our own thing and we don't want to resell someone elses thing. You can't demand as much $, you won't have as unique of a product to set you apart, barrier to entry is so much lower, you won't be able to target the value creation as efficiently, you won't have as much of a profit margin, etc... But you also want some kind of reassurance before making big investments.

So in other words, we prefer the design/manufacture model of business but we hedge our losses by testing first.
 
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fastlane_dad

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I understand the game now is much different to when you started but i do have a question about starting off on ecom with low capital. Do you source products to sell in a certain niche from alibaba/distributors or go through the design and manufacture process yourself and design your own product.
I am guessing the second option is obviously better since you can work on flaws and create more value, but does this not cost more? Does it sell better than the cheap stuff before people realise the quality/value? (i am just wondering if buyers assume its also a cheap product riddled with flaws)
It all depends on your abilities, budget and value add.

It is always best to create your own product / formula / unique offering, even if all it presents is a slight twist on what's already out. A Carbon Copy of something else that is already successful will only be that much harder to promote and compete with all the current offerings on the market.

The question always will be what value are you adding, or problem solving vs what has already been done before. Are you merely a me-too copycat (selling a face-wash), or did you come up with a unique formula where your face wash also doubles up as a shampoo - and now you have that many less products to worry about in the shower, etc.

Yes, creating from the ground up (or redesigning existing products) - will most usually cost more. If you have a smaller budget, that doesn't rule out other options though. Sometimes you can literally make a mock up yourself or a prototype of something else that you can sell and offer. Certain marketplaces were literally created for this purpose (think etsy!).

Yes, you will need investment and capital either on the product side and also on the marketing / ads side. There are countless ways to bootstrap if you are starting off small where sometimes the biggest investment will be your time and effort to test new ideas out.
 
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Koen_88

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- 'Passion' was never in the equation. Providing Value / Earning a living was itself the passion and a 'hobby'

- Deliberate small actions day in and day out is what carried us. Learning to profit $1 was a stepping stone to profiting $10. We made a plan and executed / adjusted daily along the way.

These 2 really hit me. I think this is what keeps getting me back to the same things I allways done (not working on my own future). Those covered in a sauce of imposter syndrome. Nice story to read, and congrats on your successes.
 

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- 'Passion' was never in the equation. Providing Value / Earning a living was itself the passion and a 'hobby'
This one is super tricky in my case.

I've just started a thread for my new project. I focused on problem solving and to start with, I focused on my own problems. And the biggest problem that popped out concerns a piece of equipment that I use for one of my passions (motorcycling). I've been complaining for years about this stuff but now I decided to take actions.

The point is: I did not decide to start this project / brand because I absolutely want to enter the motorcycle business. In the end, I don't care which business I am in as long as I provide value to others (the first business I started (my wife's project) is in the field of jewelry... Not really one of my passions).

In this new case, as I was looking at my own struggles, there were high chances that I end up in a field somehow related to one of my passions.
I'm just trying to do everything to not be biased and to take some distance to evaluate the situation properly and focus on product / providing value first.

Did you also experience this kind of situation ?
 

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This one is super tricky in my case.

I've just started a thread for my new project. I focused on problem solving and to start with, I focused on my own problems. And the biggest problem that popped out concerns a piece of equipment that I use for one of my passions (motorcycling). I've been complaining for years about this stuff but now I decided to take actions.

The point is: I did not decide to start this project / brand because I absolutely want to enter the motorcycle business. In the end, I don't care which business I am in as long as I provide value to others (the first business I started (my wife's project) is in the field of jewelry... Not really one of my passions).

In this new case, as I was looking at my own struggles, there were high chances that I end up in a field somehow related to one of my passions.
I'm just trying to do everything to not be biased and to take some distance to evaluate the situation properly and focus on product / providing value first.

Did you also experience this kind of situation ?
As long as you are trying to keep the primary focus in the correct places (providing value, earning income, etc), it's not a bad thing that the venture is in a passionate field. In fact it could be an advantage. You may be motivated to put in alot more work when it's in a field you enjoy. Or you may know a field much more deeply if it's one you have been in for long. With each of those avantages come their own minefields to avoid, but it sounds like you are handling it carefully.
 
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wyattnorton

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Deliberate small actions day in and day out is what carried us. Learning to profit $1 was a stepping stone to profiting $10. We made a plan and executed / adjusted daily along the way.
What were the daily actions you took with your business? How did you discover, plan, and then implement them?

Awesome stuff man!!
 

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As long as you are trying to keep the primary focus in the correct places (providing value, earning income, etc), it's not a bad thing that the venture is in a passionate field. In fact it could be an advantage. You may be motivated to put in alot more work when it's in a field you enjoy. Or you may know a field much more deeply if it's one you have been in for long. With each of those avantages come their own minefields to avoid, but it sounds like you are handling it carefully.
Thanks for your reply !

Thanks also @fastlane_dad for this interesting thread.
 

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OK so there's a lot to my story - my journey and how it all happened (I'd be willing to share if there's any interest) - but long story short I have recently achieved the pinnacle of the 'fastlane journey' - selling my online business a year ago and amassing a low 8 figure net worth.

This was not a 'get rich quick' story either as this took the better part of the last 15 years to begin my entrepreneurship journey full time, and eventually build a business to the point of sale a decade later. I was working a full time corporate job (with my slowlane degree!) prior to embarking on this wild ride. I quit at 25 years old, and never looked back again or had a boss since that lovely July day. There were MANY failures, trials and tribulations along the way. If you want a 'process' and not an 'event' ---> I am no better example of that.

I am now at a point of figuring out what the best next steps forward are. Some of the things I have started working towards is thinking about starting another business for fun rather than just profit (orienting it closer towards a passion), currently investing the proceeds of the business sale, and gauging if there are other values to chase in this lifetime vs. the constant pursuit of building / scaling / selling businesses and building wealth for wealth's sake (once you figure out your 'enough').

I am late 30s with a small family (one child) and *think* I have close to enough to make my money last until the day I die, so pursuing extra wealth through hard work and additional sacrifice is becoming less and less appealing with each passing day. I have experienced all the exotic rides, dream vacations, top restaurants and parties (all responsibly of course) and many of all the other luxury goods we all aspire to. While great in its own right, and was a lot of my motivation from the get-go -- much of that has lost its charms on me over the years.

Additionally, I am looking forward to merging my life towards providing value to any/all that want help with business advice in any facet. My schedule is open now (as I consider myself partially retired) and I am open to mentoring / coaching anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship, scaling a business or just thinking of ideas / niches to pursue.

I haven't participated much on these boards while pursuing my entrepreneurial journey but am at a point now where I have the time, motivation and willingness to engage in helping others achieve 'the dream.'

In a way I am now back to ground zero - and yes, even though the pressures of day-to-day paycheck are further beyond me, I am in many ways faced with the same but different constraints that I was bootstrapping and growing a business, or trying to figure what is it now that I'm 'optimizing' for.

I am very conservative in my investments as well, so having money does not automatically enroll you in some special club where now 'making money' becomes much easier (in facts sometimes its the opposite when you are afraid of losing it all).

For those wondering how I made the bulk of my money it was through various e-com ventures, latest being an Amazon FBA business that led to an exit. The 'process' took me the better part of the last decade (the Amazon business actually was started exactly a decade ago this month!) - but I have been entrepreneurial in various facets since the age of 14.

While I haven't hit all the tenets of CENTS with my last business (primarily violating control and entry) - the rest of them were hit right on the mark to make it a success.

I'm still learning and browsing these forums weekly but will plan and contribute more as time goes on!
Congratulations mate! I know Ecom is a wonderful business model.

This is a very inspiring story, and it's a nice feeling to get involved in an online community where people you wouldn't normally meet IRL that are living the life you desire reside in.

I just joined the forum, and I am looking forward to broaden my horizons. I just received my copy of TMF , can't wait to delve deep into it.
 

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What were the daily actions you took with your business? How did you discover, plan, and then implement them?

Awesome stuff man!!
Very simple things that make intuitive sense, but that everyone usually tries to put off doing. Here is a few categories that always have something:
  • Improving product
  • Adding product
  • Improving execution of one of your processes
  • Optimizing current advertising
  • Finding new places to advertise
  • Finding new markets to list in
  • Adding content
  • Improving your website/listings/copy
If you have a business with products, then you will always have actionable things that you know can be done to improve something in one of these categories.

Don't feel bad if you aren't doing 100 things at once. Just like everyone else, we stalled and procrastinated tasks. We are not good "workers". Some things were on our list for months or longer. But as unsexy as it sounds, one of the keys to our success was to keep a list, and do our best to make sure atleast one thing is slowly being worked on. Then slowly the business gets better and better. So slowly that it may seem like nothing is getting done. But then one day you look back and think "wow, this thing really shaped up into something. I would not want to do all this from scratch right now!"
 

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- There was no one single home run 'event' occurring in any of our business. Much / many of the days were very uneventful - with many of them actually felt like they were 'wasted away' brainstorming, researching, reading and/or deliberately trying and executing on a mini plan we made.
This resonated with me deeply. I quit my slowlane corporate job this last March (which had been in the works for some time), built a non-CENTS service based business over the last 18 months (lacks control - which I am in the process of selling) and have 4x'd my income vs. last year but I still feel like an wannatrepeneur most days. Many of the days feel like wasted time and it becomes hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have been working on a few products I have full control over (again, for the last few years) and am working to get these across the finish line in terms of testing the market. I am finally beginning to give my full attention to CENTS fastlane (e-com) but the fastlane vision can get somewhat blurry and you begin doubt whether you have what it takes to make it happen. Thanks for this reminder!

List building is one of the things we realized we should have done a better job doing during our last venture. It can be very powerful, so definitely pay attention to it.
I know this to be true but have not started. I am going to dig in today and see how I can begin to work this into my strategy. Thanks!

I'm looking forward to learning all that you'll share with us and hope that will be A LOT! Also hoping you'll sign up as a presenter whenever we get around to another SUMMIT...hint, hint
I second this motion :)
 
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fastlane_dad

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@fastlane_dad

How did you end up being partners? What's your take on partnerships?
Great question!

Around 2006 we got into affiliate marketing. @NeoDialectic was partnered with my brother at the time, and I was working with one of my friends. We were both partnered up with other people before we started working together, and after a brief chat, discussing how our vision, plan and hope for this opportunity lined up - our partnership was born.

It made sense to partner up together under one account, as the commissions were tiered by the volume of sales that was brought in. We had very similar values on work, taking advantage of a lucrative situation, and saw the opportunity that was presented to us.

We're going on 16 years of working together, and it has worked out for us great. Everything from one person initiating action, one of us being stronger or more motivated in one area or other, or just having someone to bounce crazy ideas all day and philosophize for half the time.

From what I understand, the general consensus is majority of partnerships fails. It's tough to keep it going. Values of people not only start out different, but diverge many times. People get greedy, they lose trust in each other, family values and priorities shift -- and many other things can go wrong. In many ways, it can be tougher then a marriage as money (lots of money) many times is on the line.

For us through a decade and a half - our TOP value was always on the prize - to get wealthy and be able to 'retire' young. Once the business has grown to a seven then an eight figure net worth, we setup a buyout agreement in place, to protect both parties and our respective families.

The mindset of both people needs to be congruent as well, we were believers in the TMF mentality before the book was written. Corporate grind was never in the books for us for a long time.

Did we always see eye-to-eye on every single topic and issue when it came to business? Certainly not. But we were able to make it work through all the years, and had / still have very similar viewpoints on many topics as it relates to business, fastlane, investing and many general life philosophies.

Here is more on the topic by @NeoDialectic

partnerships!
 

leand

PARKED
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Jun 3, 2022
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Hey, dude Great to hear these great news :)
Congrats on exit !

I have exited too, just a month ago... just ...

I exited with a zero ... and I am happy about it...

It took me almost 12 years to come to that zero...

see, I was in debt (over 3M) and had to bankrupt my three brick and mortar companies and finally file a personal bankruptcy too...

Now I have plenty of experience (on what not to do) and I have gained some 10 years of experience how to live healthy, happy and in harmony... Fulfilled and wealthy life...

have one major idea - to help humanity and show the more harmonious way to live

over 15 years designed a program - Lifetime Project. Design and Build your (new) Life.

Any interest in developing together?

Also I have a couple of crazy and couple of tangible ideas in process around real estate business (everyone can participate in the global real estate exchange)
Hi am interested
 
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Erol Alkan

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Aug 21, 2022
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OK so there's a lot to my story - my journey and how it all happened (I'd be willing to share if there's any interest) - but long story short I have recently achieved the pinnacle of the 'fastlane journey' - selling my online business a year ago and amassing a low 8 figure net worth.

This was not a 'get rich quick' story either as this took the better part of the last 15 years to begin my entrepreneurship journey full time, and eventually build a business to the point of sale a decade later. I was working a full time corporate job (with my slowlane degree!) prior to embarking on this wild ride. I quit at 25 years old, and never looked back again or had a boss since that lovely July day. There were MANY failures, trials and tribulations along the way. If you want a 'process' and not an 'event' ---> I am no better example of that.

I am now at a point of figuring out what the best next steps forward are. Some of the things I have started working towards is thinking about starting another business for fun rather than just profit (orienting it closer towards a passion), currently investing the proceeds of the business sale, and gauging if there are other values to chase in this lifetime vs. the constant pursuit of building / scaling / selling businesses and building wealth for wealth's sake (once you figure out your 'enough').

I am late 30s with a small family (one child) and *think* I have close to enough to make my money last until the day I die, so pursuing extra wealth through hard work and additional sacrifice is becoming less and less appealing with each passing day. I have experienced all the exotic rides, dream vacations, top restaurants and parties (all responsibly of course) and many of all the other luxury goods we all aspire to. While great in its own right, and was a lot of my motivation from the get-go -- much of that has lost its charms on me over the years.

Additionally, I am looking forward to merging my life towards providing value to any/all that want help with business advice in any facet. My schedule is open now (as I consider myself partially retired) and I am open to mentoring / coaching anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship, scaling a business or just thinking of ideas / niches to pursue.

I haven't participated much on these boards while pursuing my entrepreneurial journey but am at a point now where I have the time, motivation and willingness to engage in helping others achieve 'the dream.'

In a way I am now back to ground zero - and yes, even though the pressures of day-to-day paycheck are further beyond me, I am in many ways faced with the same but different constraints that I was bootstrapping and growing a business, or trying to figure what is it now that I'm 'optimizing' for.

I am very conservative in my investments as well, so having money does not automatically enroll you in some special club where now 'making money' becomes much easier (in facts sometimes its the opposite when you are afraid of losing it all).

For those wondering how I made the bulk of my money it was through various e-com ventures, latest being an Amazon FBA business that led to an exit. The 'process' took me the better part of the last decade (the Amazon business actually was started exactly a decade ago this month!) - but I have been entrepreneurial in various facets since the age of 14.

While I haven't hit all the tenets of CENTS with my last business (primarily violating control and entry) - the rest of them were hit right on the mark to make it a success.

I'm still learning and browsing these forums weekly but will plan and contribute more as time goes on!
I'd love to speak to you, J.
 

GazzaSA

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Aug 17, 2022
3
1
OK so there's a lot to my story - my journey and how it all happened (I'd be willing to share if there's any interest) - but long story short I have recently achieved the pinnacle of the 'fastlane journey' - selling my online business a year ago and amassing a low 8 figure net worth.

This was not a 'get rich quick' story either as this took the better part of the last 15 years to begin my entrepreneurship journey full time, and eventually build a business to the point of sale a decade later. I was working a full time corporate job (with my slowlane degree!) prior to embarking on this wild ride. I quit at 25 years old, and never looked back again or had a boss since that lovely July day. There were MANY failures, trials and tribulations along the way. If you want a 'process' and not an 'event' ---> I am no better example of that.

I am now at a point of figuring out what the best next steps forward are. Some of the things I have started working towards is thinking about starting another business for fun rather than just profit (orienting it closer towards a passion), currently investing the proceeds of the business sale, and gauging if there are other values to chase in this lifetime vs. the constant pursuit of building / scaling / selling businesses and building wealth for wealth's sake (once you figure out your 'enough').

I am late 30s with a small family (one child) and *think* I have close to enough to make my money last until the day I die, so pursuing extra wealth through hard work and additional sacrifice is becoming less and less appealing with each passing day. I have experienced all the exotic rides, dream vacations, top restaurants and parties (all responsibly of course) and many of all the other luxury goods we all aspire to. While great in its own right, and was a lot of my motivation from the get-go -- much of that has lost its charms on me over the years.

Additionally, I am looking forward to merging my life towards providing value to any/all that want help with business advice in any facet. My schedule is open now (as I consider myself partially retired) and I am open to mentoring / coaching anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship, scaling a business or just thinking of ideas / niches to pursue.

I haven't participated much on these boards while pursuing my entrepreneurial journey but am at a point now where I have the time, motivation and willingness to engage in helping others achieve 'the dream.'

In a way I am now back to ground zero - and yes, even though the pressures of day-to-day paycheck are further beyond me, I am in many ways faced with the same but different constraints that I was bootstrapping and growing a business, or trying to figure what is it now that I'm 'optimizing' for.

I am very conservative in my investments as well, so having money does not automatically enroll you in some special club where now 'making money' becomes much easier (in facts sometimes its the opposite when you are afraid of losing it all).

For those wondering how I made the bulk of my money it was through various e-com ventures, latest being an Amazon FBA business that led to an exit. The 'process' took me the better part of the last decade (the Amazon business actually was started exactly a decade ago this month!) - but I have been entrepreneurial in various facets since the age of 14.

While I haven't hit all the tenets of CENTS with my last business (primarily violating control and entry) - the rest of them were hit right on the mark to make it a success.

I'm still learning and browsing these forums weekly but will plan and contribute more as time goes on!
Awesome to hear this well done, love to hear when others do well
 
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SSTrey

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This was nearly a decade ago, with a completely different business that had (shopify) as the only storefront and at the time we determined that personal customer attention could of been a value skew (and turned out to be a huge one at that time!). Being that every penny mattered starting off, I'd pick up and return phone calls almost no matter when they came in. It was also fun to interact directly with the customers and sell them, and then ship a product that we created!

Starting out - the most important tenets are to keep going, keep trying, and try to think of any ways to minimize your product testing / sourcing / marketing cost. Think of ways to generate low cost / free advertising (think social media) - to drive traffic, especially if you are starting out with nothing. Remember to put in work day in day out, research, and make small steps forward daily.
@fastlane_dad Interesting point you make "This was nearly a decade ago" ... I often wonder, what makes one realize how and when to start something when it's still early days? (ie. Drop-shipping using Shopify is so saturated right now)
Is it just plain old research & then giving it a shot?
 

fastlane_dad

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@fastlane_dad Interesting point you make "This was nearly a decade ago" ... I often wonder, what makes one realize how and when to start something when it's still early days? (ie. Drop-shipping using Shopify is so saturated right now)
Is it just plain old research & then giving it a shot?
As a summary that's correct - taking action, working towards a small win - and having persistence to keep going. Whether that's in same field/idea or different.

At one point, when I was COMPLETELY out of ideas where I knew I had to do something - I started reselling CUTCO knives (purchased locally off craigslist / listed on eBay).

It wasn't a gold mine in any sense, but gave me the feeling of control again that it is possible to turn a small profit selling items online. @NeoDialectic and I were just discussing this topic today, and will make a post on this shortly.

Of course that (cutlery arbitrage) was all very short lived, as some of the other ideas @NeoDialectic and I had slowly picked up and eventually turned into an 8 figure business with an exit.

BUT ALSO at one point or another we have tested and tried many of the 'hot platforms and methods' that today more or less seem outdated or won't yield nearly as instantaneous results (affiliate marketing, eBay resells/flips, Google AdWords, amazon FBA, etc). Many were missed along the way as well (social media uprising, youtube, instagram, etc). Not to say that ANY of those can't still be used to gain a significant market advantage, or identify a specific opportunity that will work. All it is, is it will be much more difficult and require more ingenuity going forward.

Always keeping your eyes peeled on new/trending/coming up marketplaces, figuring out how to add or provide value, and deliver it on a mass scale is always the key. And also, don't forget to enjoy the actual 'process', rather then some far away , mystical goal that might or not come. That's the only way you will garner wins along the road, even if they are in some views a quick 'fail'. Many, many ideas we had - where websites were setup, products researched and sourced (or planned on sourcing), advertising tried etc that wen't absolutely 'nowhere' in terms of revenue or profit - but scratched our itch to try that IDEA, and learned a lesson (or two) along the way on why things didn't work out as we hoped.
 

SSTrey

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Always keeping your eyes peeled on new/trending/coming up marketplaces, figuring out how to add or provide value, and deliver it on a mass scale is always the key. And also, don't forget to enjoy the actual 'process', rather then some far away , mystical goal that might or not come. That's the only way you will garner wins along the road, even if they are in some views a quick 'fail'. Many, many ideas we had - where websites were setup, products researched and sourced (or planned on sourcing), advertising tried etc that wen't absolutely 'nowhere' in terms of revenue or profit - but scratched our itch to try that IDEA, and learned a lesson (or two) along the way on why things didn't work out as we hoped.
This is a good reminder.
I am South African born. We have many third world country problems here, like shortage of water & electricity reduction.
Being an engineer with a first world mindset, continiously showing interest in new technology and ways to solve higher level problems, I read a lot & I try to execute & implement my first world ideas in a country that, although somewhat first world, we do have more third world problems to solve.
Yes, the last 2 to 5 years have seen tremendous growth in technology & adaptation of solutions from Western countries (myself I have launched a startup few months ago with this in mind - which is still catching ground).

BUT very recently (as I am tuning my FASTLANE problem solving head more) I noticed a huge need within my residential complex literally on my doorstep where my neighbours are 'screaming' for a solution (which I know I can solve). The idea popped into my head like a bright light bulb flashing on (LOL).
It may not immediately be CENTS based BUT it's a definite problem solver. I am currently solving it for myself then IL offer it to my neighbours, let's see what happens. Kinda excited about it.
 
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NeoDialectic

Successfully Exited the Rat Race
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This is a good reminder.
I am South African born. We have many third world country problems here, like shortage of water & electricity reduction.
Being an engineer with a first world mindset, continiously showing interest in new technology and ways to solve higher level problems, I read a lot & I try to execute & implement my first world ideas in a country that, although somewhat first world, we do have more third world problems to solve.
Yes, the last 2 to 5 years have seen tremendous growth in technology & adaptation of solutions from Western countries (myself I have launched a startup few months ago with this in mind - which is still catching ground).

BUT very recently (as I am tuning my FASTLANE problem solving head more) I noticed a huge need within my residential complex literally on my doorstep where my neighbours are 'screaming' for a solution (which I know I can solve). The idea popped into my head like a bright light bulb flashing on (LOL).
It may not immediately be CENTS based BUT it's a definite problem solver. I am currently solving it for myself then IL offer it to my neighbours, let's see what happens. Kinda excited about it.
Good luck! I recently made a thread HERE asking whether anyone is applying fastlane ideas outside the USA. Glad to see people are in the process!
 

Akita

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Dec 8, 2021
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OK so there's a lot to my story - my journey and how it all happened (I'd be willing to share if there's any interest) - but long story short I have recently achieved the pinnacle of the 'fastlane journey' - selling my online business a year ago and amassing a low 8 figure net worth.

This was not a 'get rich quick' story either as this took the better part of the last 15 years to begin my entrepreneurship journey full time, and eventually build a business to the point of sale a decade later. I was working a full time corporate job (with my slowlane degree!) prior to embarking on this wild ride. I quit at 25 years old, and never looked back again or had a boss since that lovely July day. There were MANY failures, trials and tribulations along the way. If you want a 'process' and not an 'event' ---> I am no better example of that.

I am now at a point of figuring out what the best next steps forward are. Some of the things I have started working towards is thinking about starting another business for fun rather than just profit (orienting it closer towards a passion), currently investing the proceeds of the business sale, and gauging if there are other values to chase in this lifetime vs. the constant pursuit of building / scaling / selling businesses and building wealth for wealth's sake (once you figure out your 'enough').

I am late 30s with a small family (one child) and *think* I have close to enough to make my money last until the day I die, so pursuing extra wealth through hard work and additional sacrifice is becoming less and less appealing with each passing day. I have experienced all the exotic rides, dream vacations, top restaurants and parties (all responsibly of course) and many of all the other luxury goods we all aspire to. While great in its own right, and was a lot of my motivation from the get-go -- much of that has lost its charms on me over the years.

Additionally, I am looking forward to merging my life towards providing value to any/all that want help with business advice in any facet. My schedule is open now (as I consider myself partially retired) and I am open to mentoring / coaching anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship, scaling a business or just thinking of ideas / niches to pursue.

I haven't participated much on these boards while pursuing my entrepreneurial journey but am at a point now where I have the time, motivation and willingness to engage in helping others achieve 'the dream.'

In a way I am now back to ground zero - and yes, even though the pressures of day-to-day paycheck are further beyond me, I am in many ways faced with the same but different constraints that I was bootstrapping and growing a business, or trying to figure what is it now that I'm 'optimizing' for.

I am very conservative in my investments as well, so having money does not automatically enroll you in some special club where now 'making money' becomes much easier (in facts sometimes its the opposite when you are afraid of losing it all).

For those wondering how I made the bulk of my money it was through various e-com ventures, latest being an Amazon FBA business that led to an exit. The 'process' took me the better part of the last decade (the Amazon business actually was started exactly a decade ago this month!) - but I have been entrepreneurial in various facets since the age of 14.

While I haven't hit all the tenets of CENTS with my last business (primarily violating control and entry) - the rest of them were hit right on the mark to make it a success.

I'm still learning and browsing these forums weekly but will plan and contribute more as time goes on!
Good to hear this story, I know that there’s many like myself that have so much to learn. So I’m sure you’ll be able to add much value in some capacity. Can’t wait to hear from you!
 

Drups

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Dec 4, 2022
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@fastlane_dad & @NeoDialetic,
Thanks for sharing your story! I’ve got an FBA. Business with around 30 employees. I’ve scaled to my current revenue through acquiring and merging 6 smaller brands in the e-commerce space.

You seem like you’re about 3-4 years ahead of me as far as where I’d like to be at an exit given our current growth rate. I’d love to hear more about what you’re suggesting for maximizing value at an exit. What do I you wish u you ou would have known going into selling a business?

Have you thought about acquiring a business for your next play rather than starting from scratch?

My product strategy was very different than yours. Feel free to DM me if you’d like to comparime notes.
 
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fastlane_dad

8 Figure Fastlane Graduate
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@fastlane_dad & @NeoDialetic,
Thanks for sharing your story! I’ve got an FBA. Business with around 30 employees. I’ve scaled to my current revenue through acquiring and merging 6 smaller brands in the e-commerce space.

You seem like you’re about 3-4 years ahead of me as far as where I’d like to be at an exit given our current growth rate. I’d love to hear more about what you’re suggesting for maximizing value at an exit. What do I you wish u you ou would have known going into selling a business?

Have you thought about acquiring a business for your next play rather than starting from scratch?

My product strategy was very different than yours. Feel free to DM me if you’d like to comparime notes.
Wow 30 employees is crazy. We had 3 handling our entire operation. What are the roles of all the 30 people there? Your payroll must be huge if they are all in-house.
 

Drups

New Contributor
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Dec 4, 2022
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Wow 30 employees is crazy. We had 3 handling our entire operation. What are the roles of all the 30 people there? Your payroll must be huge if they are all in-house.
We’ve targeted multiple niches and customize products. We do kits, custom builds, and some on-demand manufacturing. We own two warehouses for fulfillment and manufacturing.

We have over 4000 product SKUs.

It’s the opposite end of the spectrum of your business.
 

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