Fastlane Successes outside the USA?

[NeoDialectic]

All my businesses have always had 1%-3% of their revenues from outside the USA (where I am located). So while I have experience in international markets, I don't have much experience growing a business actually domiciled and based outside of the USA.

From my point of view, it seems that the USA, for all it's flaws, is a very friendly country for the average person to start a business without too much friction. Unless you step into some very specific fields, there just isn't that much regulation the average person has to worry about. On top of that, everyone seems to love blowing endless amounts of money of things they don't need.

I see that there are alot of members outside the USA. The basic formula for entrepreneurship should work everywhere (or at least be a good start). But the environment obviously makes a big difference on how easy it could be.

So I'm curious...Just how common are fastlane successes in the rest of the world? More specifically, ones that make the USD equivalent of millions and that aren't based on capitalizing on USA markets. Which countries make it easier? Harder?

 

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[SEBASTlAN]

 

[MTF]

In countries other than the English-speaking ones, language is usually the biggest barrier to success because you can't scale easily.

I can create an online business in English and have access to about 1.5 billion people. If I create an online business in Polish, I'll have access only to about 50 million people (30x less). If I want to scale, I have to translate everything into another language, hire staff speaking another language, and in general, the business gets super complicated.

People from countries speaking major languages, particularly when they're surrounded by neighbors speaking the same language, such as is the case with German, have it much easier (in addition to having a lot of purchasing power).

If you live in a highly populous country that isn't China, you'll have a much harder time getting rich because of low purchasing power. Many business or even whole industries don't exist in poorer countries because too few people can afford them.

Even if you go for magnitude over scale and offer expensive services or products, your market may still be limited. Let's say you're going to sell luxury real estate in Poland. Even if you're great at it, you'll make only a fraction of what you could make in a big, super rich country. Yes, you can have a great life in Poland but globally, it won't be a huge Fastlane story. The market is much smaller and there's much less money flowing.

Then there's also the issue of logistics, regulations, etc. If you have a business in the US, you have the same laws, the same delivery methods, etc. Even in the European Union that's supposed to be a single market, things aren't so simple because of different languages, payment methods, local business regulations, etc.

If I were to start a business in a non-English speaking, smaller country, I'd only go with industries where there's a lot of money: real estate, tourism, and healthcare. Or alternatively, start a business catering to rich foreigners.

I'm not saying you can't have a Fastlane success story in a non-English speaking country but IMO you'll have a much harder time, particularly when starting out. It's just not as efficient as having the incredible scale of the entire English-speaking world.

Making, say, $2,000 a month from an English-speaking audience is MUCH easier than making the equivalent in a local currency in a smaller, poorer country.

 

[Strm]

I'm not saying you can't have a Fastlane success story in a non-English speaking country but IMO you'll have a much harder time, particularly when starting out. It's just not as efficient as having the incredible scale of the entire English-speaking world.

I'm seeing this firsthand in Estonia, which is like a drop in the sea even if compared to other EU countries. I've had a couple of local e-com stores that have made monthly profits but still it has been nowhere near the level that i would want. So I have sold them all and now need to use a different approach with scale in mind. I still believe that e-commerce is a good model in such cases like my own but it has to be different from anything I've done before.

 

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[MTF]

I'm seeing this firsthand in Estonia, which is like a drop in the sea even if compared to other EU countries. I've had a couple of local e-com stores that have made monthly profits but still it has been nowhere near the level that i would want. So I have sold them all and now need to use a different approach with scale in mind. I still believe that e-commerce is a good model in such cases like my own but it has to be different from anything I've done before.

I've noticed more and more e-commerce stores that ship everywhere in Europe (or sometimes even worldwide) and simply use English for everything. That may be an option for niche products that wouldn't otherwise work in a single country.

For example, this company selling barefoot shoes: Feelgrounds | Let’s make barefoot shoes cool! They're from Germany but their business is incorporated in Cyprus. As far as I remember they started only in Europe and now they expanded worldwide.

But I guess that only proves my point that ultimately the best scale is doing business in English worldwide, not locally.

 

[Athena_]

All my businesses have always had 1%-3% of their revenues from outside the USA (where I am located). So while I have experience in international markets, I don't have much experience growing a business actually domiciled and based outside of the USA.

From my point of view, it seems that the USA, for all it's flaws, is a very friendly country for the average person to start a business without too much friction. Unless you step into some very specific fields, there just isn't that much regulation the average person has to worry about. On top of that, everyone seems to love blowing endless amounts of money of things they don't need.

I see that there are alot of members outside the USA. The basic formula for entrepreneurship should work everywhere (or at least be a good start). But the environment obviously makes a big difference on how easy it could be.

So I'm curious...Just how common are fastlane successes in the rest of the world? More specifically, ones that make the USD equivalent of millions and that aren't based on capitalizing on USA markets. Which countries make it easier? Harder?

Check this out, he is Indian

View: https://youtu.be/Ym_56wTU8yA

 

[NeoDialectic]

In countries other than the English-speaking ones, language is usually the biggest barrier to success because you can't scale easily.

I can create an online business in English and have access to about 1.5 billion people. If I create an online business in Polish, I'll have access only to about 50 million people (30x less). If I want to scale, I have to translate everything into another language, hire staff speaking another language, and in general, the business gets super complicated.

People from countries speaking major languages, particularly when they're surrounded by neighbors speaking the same language, such as is the case with German, have it much easier (in addition to having a lot of purchasing power).

If you live in a highly populous country that isn't China, you'll have a much harder time getting rich because of low purchasing power. Many business or even whole industries don't exist in poorer countries because too few people can afford them.

Even if you go for magnitude over scale and offer expensive services or products, your market may still be limited. Let's say you're going to sell luxury real estate in Poland. Even if you're great at it, you'll make only a fraction of what you could make in a big, super rich country. Yes, you can have a great life in Poland but globally, it won't be a huge Fastlane story. The market is much smaller and there's much less money flowing.

Then there's also the issue of logistics, regulations, etc. If you have a business in the US, you have the same laws, the same delivery methods, etc. Even in the European Union that's supposed to be a single market, things aren't so simple because of different languages, payment methods, local business regulations, etc.

If I were to start a business in a non-English speaking, smaller country, I'd only go with industries where there's a lot of money: real estate, tourism, and healthcare. Or alternatively, start a business catering to rich foreigners.

I'm not saying you can't have a Fastlane success story in a non-English speaking country but IMO you'll have a much harder time, particularly when starting out. It's just not as efficient as having the incredible scale of the entire English-speaking world.

Making, say, $2,000 a month from an English-speaking audience is MUCH easier than making the equivalent in a local currency in a smaller, poorer country.

Great explanation. This puts to words many of the feelings I had on the matter. I imagine that the other side to this coin is you likely need alot less to truly feel rich and free locally. Displays of wealth and other things that we see online certainly take their psychological toll, but they are never as heavy as your immediate surroundings. (as long a you have a real life outside of the internet).

Part of the reason for my thread is to learn how to best tailor my advice when talking to our international brothers & sisters. It seems to me that the best advice would be to try and tailor their product to the English speaking community. Kind of like the guy @Athena_ quotes:

Check this out, he is Indian

View: https://youtu.be/Ym_56wTU8yA

I didn't watch the actual video, but skimming through it seems like the income is from selling plugins to google docs. If I had to guess, this doens't fit the "aren't based on capitalizing on the US markets" requirement in my post. Again, purely speculations, but I don't think fellow Indian users are paying him for the plugins.....If someone watched the entire video, I let me know if I'm off base with my assumptions.

 

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[MTF]

Great explanation. This puts to words many of the feelings I had on the matter. I imagine that the other side to this coin is you likely need alot less to truly feel rich and free locally. Displays of wealth and other things that we see online certainly take their psychological toll, but they are never as heavy as your immediate surroundings. (as long a you have a real life outside of the internet).

Where I live, $2k a month makes you really well-off. $5k is very rich and most people don't know anyone making so much or even anywhere close to it.

But of course, then you to travel to more expensive countries and you can't believe the prices. I've never been to a country that was cheaper.

 

[MaximilianT]

I'm not saying you can't have a Fastlane success story in a non-English speaking country but IMO you'll have a much harder time, particularly when starting out. It's just not as efficient as having the incredible scale of the entire English-speaking world.

Absolutely true in my opinion too. Although the DACH-countries in europe (all countries with mostly german mother tongue -> Germany, Switzerland, Austria) are all very strong economies and the purchasing power is high, as a company you HAVE sooner or later to expand in the international market, sprich the english market.

But there are MANY highly successful startups from there, especially germany. Two companies which come into my mind immediately are Baulig Consulting, which is a consulting company for online marketing and has made 30 million in revenue last year. Although the bauligs (the two brothers, which founded baulig consulting) are spending HUGE amounts of money every month into ads and are a bit dependent on them, they still make 10M/Year only through organic recommendations from other clients, so i would call it a fastlane because of the obvious productocracy.

Second example is Celonis. I don't have much to say here, because they got from 0 to 11,1 BILLION market validation in 11 years since funding in 2011 with their software to help companies to use process mining to optimize their businesses.

But despite many successful fastlanes in DACH, especially germany is much more some sort of a "envy society" than the US. Best example is, when i hear relatives from germany or also my own country (i live in the north of italy, where german is the mother tongue) talking about rich people or entrepreneurs: "He's lucky." "YOU want to become a Millionaire? HAHAHAHA". are the prime examples for the bad mindset towards money and success here. In the US or also just in the UK this is much less the chase.

 

[NeoDialectic]

Absolutely true in my opinion too. Although the DACH-countries in europe (all countries with mostly german mother tongue -> Germany, Switzerland, Austria) are all very strong economies and the purchasing power is high, as a company you HAVE sooner or later to expand in the international market, sprich the english market.

But there are MANY highly successful startups from there, especially germany. Two companies which come into my mind immediately are Baulig Consulting, which is a consulting company for online marketing and has made 30 million in revenue last year. Although the bauligs (the two brothers, which founded baulig consulting) are spending HUGE amounts of money every month into ads and are a bit dependent on them, they still make 10M/Year only through organic recommendations from other clients, so i would call it a fastlane because of the obvious productocracy.

Second example is Celonis. I don't have much to say here, because they got from 0 to 11,1 BILLION market validation in 11 years since funding in 2011 with their software to help companies to use process mining to optimize their businesses.

But despite many successful fastlanes in DACH, especially germany is much more some sort of a "envy society" than the US. Best example is, when i hear relatives from germany or also my own country (i live in the north of italy, where german is the mother tongue) talking about rich people or entrepreneurs: "He's lucky." "YOU want to become a Millionaire? HAHAHAHA". are the prime examples for the bad mindset towards money and success here. In the US or also just in the UK this is much less the chase.

In the US, you can't think of one niche, activity or hobby in the USA that doesn't have hundreds of companies that are making millions of dollars for their owners that no one has ever heard of. So much so that it can sometimes be dizzying.

We have our own sliver of society that villainizes wealth... But luckily atleast a good 50% or so respect small business creators.

 

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[K1 Lambo]

All my businesses have always had 1%-3% of their revenues from outside the USA (where I am located). So while I have experience in international markets, I don't have much experience growing a business actually domiciled and based outside of the USA.

From my point of view, it seems that the USA, for all it's flaws, is a very friendly country for the average person to start a business without too much friction. Unless you step into some very specific fields, there just isn't that much regulation the average person has to worry about. On top of that, everyone seems to love blowing endless amounts of money of things they don't need.

I see that there are alot of members outside the USA. The basic formula for entrepreneurship should work everywhere (or at least be a good start). But the environment obviously makes a big difference on how easy it could be.

So I'm curious...Just how common are fastlane successes in the rest of the world? More specifically, ones that make the USD equivalent of millions and that aren't based on capitalizing on USA markets. Which countries make it easier? Harder?

Owning a physical store in a 3rd world country like Ukraine, India or Pakistan? Very difficult to get to a dollar multi-millionaire status when the currency is so weak and potential prospects earn less than $100-$200 a month.

Online businesses? No restrictions really. You can sell to clients with better currenices.

There's multi millionaires and big ballers in every country.

I remember when I was in Budapest, Hungary which is classified as a one of the "poorest" countries in Europe and I can say with 100% certainty; During my stay there back in 2019 when we saw the Hungarian Grand Prix, me and my dad saw way more supercars than I what I see in Norway. Aventador SV Roadster, Audi R8s, Ferrari 512TR, Ferrari California, Ferraris, Bentleys, G Wagons etc. This is what you call a poor country? And this comes from someone who lives in Norway, which is in the top 3-5 countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world.

Same thing with most eastern european countries like Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Romania etc. These countries are way richer than you think.

This fallacy probably comes from the fact that there's a huge wealth divide between the wealthy (0.1%) and the 99.9%(lower/middle class).

 

[NeoDialectic]

Owning a physical store in a 3rd world country like Ukraine, India or Pakistan? Very difficult to get to a dollar multi-millionaire status when the currency is so weak and potential prospects earn less than $100-$200 a month.

Online businesses? No restrictions really. You can sell to clients with better currenices.

There's multi millionaires and big ballers in every country.

I remember when I was in Budapest, Hungary which is classified as a one of the "poorest" countries in Europe and I can say with 100% certainty; During my stay there back in 2019 when we saw the Hungarian Grand Prix, me and my dad saw way more supercars than I what I see in Norway. Aventador SV Roadster, Audi R8s, Ferrari 512TR, Ferrari California, Ferraris, Bentleys, G Wagons etc. This is what you call a poor country? And this comes from someone who lives in Norway, which is in the top 3-5 countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world.

Same thing with most eastern european countries like Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Romania etc. These countries are way richer than you think.

This fallacy probably comes from the fact that there's a huge wealth divide between the wealthy (0.1%) and the 99.9%(lower/middle class).

I have absolutely no doubt that there is serious wealth on all those countries. I think it's generally either generational, from outside the country, controlling levers of power, or associated with old fashion commodities. But thats a different type of wealth than starting a fastlane type business.

In my post, I'm wondering if the man down the street can become a millionaire with some creativity and elbow grease. Not if there are oil barons.

 

[SSTrey]

All my businesses have always had 1%-3% of their revenues from outside the USA (where I am located). So while I have experience in international markets, I don't have much experience growing a business actually domiciled and based outside of the USA.

From my point of view, it seems that the USA, for all it's flaws, is a very friendly country for the average person to start a business without too much friction. Unless you step into some very specific fields, there just isn't that much regulation the average person has to worry about. On top of that, everyone seems to love blowing endless amounts of money of things they don't need.

I see that there are alot of members outside the USA. The basic formula for entrepreneurship should work everywhere (or at least be a good start). But the environment obviously makes a big difference on how easy it could be.

So I'm curious...Just how common are fastlane successes in the rest of the world? More specifically, ones that make the USD equivalent of millions and that aren't based on capitalizing on USA markets. Which countries make it easier? Harder?

I was born & live in South Africa. I am 5th generation Indian, so although I am entirely South African, I also ofcourse have an Indian influence to a degree.

From our perspective in Southern Africa, there are many businesses considered very successful BUT nowhere close to USD equivalent of millions. The currency (ZAR) to USD exchange rate has a lot to do with it.
Also, as South Africans we look 'up to' US businesses, especially in the restaurant and technology services industries.
Wrt Fastlane, I do not hear of or see much of this mentality here. However I do have a friend who made a huge exit with his online grocery delivery business. Ofcourse this was basically copycatted from the similar US based tech businesses & Covid was definitely a catalyst.

The mentality is less forgiving and very risk averse in South Africa, when compared to the USA. Even watching Shark Tank, I have noticed that Americans can make money of just about anything. That is less of an opportunity here.

Lastly, even my Google ADS analytics proves to me that my website traffic is receiving the 2nd highest viewership from the USA, and I'm not even actively paying for that location

 

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[MTF]

Owning a physical store in a 3rd world country like Ukraine, India or Pakistan? Very difficult to get to a dollar multi-millionaire status when the currency is so weak and potential prospects earn less than $100-$200 a month.

Online businesses? No restrictions really. You can sell to clients with better currenices.

There's multi millionaires and big ballers in every country.

I remember when I was in Budapest, Hungary which is classified as a one of the "poorest" countries in Europe and I can say with 100% certainty; During my stay there back in 2019 when we saw the Hungarian Grand Prix, me and my dad saw way more supercars than I what I see in Norway. Aventador SV Roadster, Audi R8s, Ferrari 512TR, Ferrari California, Ferraris, Bentleys, G Wagons etc. This is what you call a poor country? And this comes from someone who lives in Norway, which is in the top 3-5 countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world.

Same thing with most eastern european countries like Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Romania etc. These countries are way richer than you think.

This fallacy probably comes from the fact that there's a huge wealth divide between the wealthy (0.1%) and the 99.9%(lower/middle class).

As I already said in another thread, you're mistaking signs of wealth with actual wealth. There's a specific mentality, particularly in Eastern Europe but also to a smaller extent in Central Europe, of people needing to show off wealth even if they don't have it.

People in Scandinavia don't have it because it's more of an egalitarian society where showing off is looked down upon. You don't see people driving supercars because they aren't valued there. Instead, people don't have any debt, have nice (not luxurious) houses and live much more satisfying lives. Meanwhile, many people in Eastern Europe have this dumb mentality of focusing on flashy external signs of wealth, even if they can't afford it and then have to slave away to keep up appearances.

This is the kind of mentality you're dealing with in this part of the world:

If you were to see dozens of such guys somewhere in Eastern Europe, would you also conclude that Scandinavia is poorer because nobody is wearing these gold chains there? That's the same thing with supercars.

 

[tomzestatlu]

Owning a physical store in a 3rd world country like Ukraine, India or Pakistan? Very difficult to get to a dollar multi-millionaire status when the currency is so weak and potential prospects earn less than $100-$200 a month.

Online businesses? No restrictions really. You can sell to clients with better currenices.

There's multi millionaires and big ballers in every country.

I remember when I was in Budapest, Hungary which is classified as a one of the "poorest" countries in Europe and I can say with 100% certainty; During my stay there back in 2019 when we saw the Hungarian Grand Prix, me and my dad saw way more supercars than I what I see in Norway. Aventador SV Roadster, Audi R8s, Ferrari 512TR, Ferrari California, Ferraris, Bentleys, G Wagons etc. This is what you call a poor country? And this comes from someone who lives in Norway, which is in the top 3-5 countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world.

Same thing with most eastern european countries like Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Romania etc. These countries are way richer than you think.

This fallacy probably comes from the fact that there's a huge wealth divide between the wealthy (0.1%) and the 99.9%(lower/middle class).

I can explain to you why it is like that.

All mentioned countries were under Soviet influence and ruled by communists until around 1990. That means that all the bussineses and huge portion of properties were owned by the state.

Then the revolutions came and new governments decided to switch on capitalism. How do you do that?
You must distribute everything owned by the government to people. That´s how this super-rich (in local scale) got their money. They either got some potentially profitable bussines fot literally free (and made it work) or they stole money from already existing and working bussines (and let it die).
In my country, at the begininning of 90s, there could get a loan for whatever without ever having to pay it back (you pay back if you succeed, if your bussines fail you don´t need to pay to bank).

Another big part of wealthy people are home owners. Government kept selling it´s properties during many years (properties were actually owned by the cities, so there was no system for that and also many bribes were paid). Many people bought dozens of flats for 5% of current evaluation. Now young people won´t even get a 30 years mortgage from bank.

And then there´s third group of wealthy people. Local capitalism developed slower than in the west. Those people either started some basic bussines and scaled up quickly, because there wasn´t so strong competetition (construction companies etc) or they find some niche abroad and brought it here.

The richest persons in those countries are 90s bussinesmen (and the most of them had connection with mafia). But they still don´t have a lot of money in comparison to succesful US bussinesmen.
Somehow, people live good lifes, a lot of them drive expensive cars (that are actually more expensive than in the US and use much more expensive fuel), even though average netto sallary might be a bit above 1k USD.



Anyway, interesting to think about differencies between US and the rest of the world. I live in Eastern Europe and I have never been to US, but I think there are 3 main differencies, when it comes to considerations for starting a bussines:
1. Buying power (as discussed above).
2. Consumerism is much stronger in US. Also it´s in local people´s mentality to cook in their kitchen and fix the most of everyday problems by themself and don´t need any service for that.
3. Entrepreneurship is at its peak in EE and every area is extremely over-saturated and competetition is very high (speaking of what I see in my country).

 

[Athena_]

I can explain to you why it is like that.

All mentioned countries were under Soviet influence and ruled by communists until around 1990. That means that all the bussineses and huge portion of properties were owned by the state.

Then the revolutions came and new governments decided to switch on capitalism. How do you do that?
You must distribute everything owned by the government to people. That´s how this super-rich (in local scale) got their money. They either got some potentially profitable bussines fot literally free (and made it work) or they stole money from already existing and working bussines (and let it die).
In my country, at the begininning of 90s, there could get a loan for whatever without ever having to pay it back (you pay back if you succeed, if your bussines fail you don´t need to pay to bank).

Another big part of wealthy people are home owners. Government kept selling it´s properties during many years (properties were actually owned by the cities, so there was no system for that and also many bribes were paid). Many people bought dozens of flats for 5% of current evaluation. Now young people won´t even get a 30 years mortgage from bank.

And then there´s third group of wealthy people. Local capitalism developed slower than in the west. Those people either started some basic bussines and scaled up quickly, because there wasn´t so strong competetition (construction companies etc) or they find some niche abroad and brought it here.

The richest persons in those countries are 90s bussinesmen (and the most of them had connection with mafia). But they still don´t have a lot of money in comparison to succesful US bussinesmen.
Somehow, people live good lifes, a lot of them drive expensive cars (that are actually more expensive than in the US and use much more expensive fuel), even though average netto sallary might be a bit above 1k USD.



Anyway, interesting to think about differencies between US and the rest of the world. I live in Eastern Europe and I have never been to US, but I think there are 3 main differencies, when it comes to considerations for starting a bussines:
1. Buying power (as discussed above).
2. Consumerism is much stronger in US. Also it´s in local people´s mentality to cook in their kitchen and fix the most of everyday problems by themself and don´t need any service for that.
3. Entrepreneurship is at its peak in EE and every area is extremely over-saturated and competetition is very high (speaking of what I see in my country).

What do you guys think about the new age youtube entrepreneurs, there are many such in India, they have million subs or more on their channels
Few Indian YouTubers I watch are these

 

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[K1 Lambo]

As I already said in another thread, you're mistaking signs of wealth with actual wealth. There's a specific mentality, particularly in Eastern Europe but also to a smaller extent in Central Europe, of people needing to show off wealth even if they don't have it.

People in Scandinavia don't have it because it's more of an egalitarian society where showing off is looked down upon. You don't see people driving supercars because they aren't valued there. Instead, people don't have any debt, have nice (not luxurious) houses and live much more satisfying lives. Meanwhile, many people in Eastern Europe have this dumb mentality of focusing on flashy external signs of wealth, even if they can't afford it and then have to slave away to keep up appearances.

This is the kind of mentality you're dealing with in this part of the world:

If you were to see dozens of such guys somewhere in Eastern Europe, would you also conclude that Scandinavia is poorer because nobody is wearing these gold chains there? That's the same thing with supercars.

I don't know man. Obviously it probably depends on the individual. If you're Warren Buffet or someone who lives in NYC where they take public transport to work everyday then it makes sense since public transport is so efficient in that city. Or the founder of IKEA who was like 80-90 years old, who used to take the bus to work everyday. Some just like to be under the radar and live a minimalist lifestyle and that's fine.

However, most of the wealthy people I know of in Norway who are wealthy (net worth $10m and up, made a lot of money from their businesses) usually do drive $100k+ and up cars.

One who lives not that far away from me drives a Lamborghini URUS (he owns a big knitting store where they sell them all over the world, his company has a revenue of around $35m). There's also another one owns the most expensive property in Stavanger, he owns like 30 supercars/hypercars (including the only Norwegian registered Bugatti Veyron) and so on, he and his brother are all self made, came from no money rural Norway.

Norway also has a lot of what MJ would call "slowlane millionaires", guys who got a little rich from being in a high paid job/position, saved their money and once they're 55-60, now they can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Very common here. They usually drive their new electric Teslas, Volvos or sometimes Porsche Taycans, live in middle class homes etc.

In Eastern europe, I found it to be the opposite. Probably because Poland, Czech Republic and a lot of these poorer countries have never really experienced what true monetary wealth feels like post communism so it's something new and exciting for them, which is why a lot of them choose to live a flashy lifestyle. That doesn't necessarily mean that they're just flexing or pretending to be rich. There's pretenders in every country of course.

Just because someone drives a Lambo, Bentley or a Ferrari doesn't automatically put them in the pretender category. What if someone has a real passion for nice things and can actually afford them?

In fact, I actually know one very successful real estate investor from Poland. His name is Pawel (he's about 47 years old). Owns a whole bunch of nice cars including a yellow Aventador SV, and that car is sick. You got to see it in person because pictures don't do justice to how crazy that thing is! He also told me on Whatsapp that he ordered his new Pagani which is obviously sick! He's probably gonna be the first polish Pagani owner in Poland.

Plus, Pagani just opened their new dealer in Warsaw which shows that there are people with a lot of money in eastern europe, so there's a market for Pagani level vehicles around Poland/Russia/Czech Republic.

 

[football4life]

I don't know man. Obviously it probably depends on the individual. If you're Warren Buffet or someone who lives in NYC where they take public transport to work everyday then it makes sense since public transport is so efficient in that city. Or the founder of IKEA who was like 80-90 years old, who used to take the bus to work everyday. Some just like to be under the radar and live a minimalist lifestyle and that's fine.

However, most of the wealthy people I know of in Norway who are wealthy (net worth $10m and up, made a lot of money from their businesses) usually do drive $100k+ and up cars.

One who lives not that far away from me drives a Lamborghini URUS (he owns a big knitting store where they sell them all over the world, his company has a revenue of around $35m). There's also another one owns the most expensive property in Stavanger, he owns like 30 supercars/hypercars (including the only Norwegian registered Bugatti Veyron) and so on, he and his brother are all self made, came from no money rural Norway.

Norway also has a lot of what MJ would call "slowlane millionaires", guys who got a little rich from being in a high paid job/position, saved their money and once they're 55-60, now they can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Very common here. They usually drive their new electric Teslas, Volvos or sometimes Porsche Taycans, live in middle class homes etc.

In Eastern europe, I found it to be the opposite. Probably because Poland, Czech Republic and a lot of these poorer countries have never really experienced what true monetary wealth feels like post communism so it's something new and exciting for them, which is why a lot of them choose to live a flashy lifestyle. That doesn't necessarily mean that they're just flexing or pretending to be rich. There's pretenders in every country of course.

Just because someone drives a Lambo, Bentley or a Ferrari doesn't automatically put them in the pretender category. What if someone has a real passion for nice things and can actually afford them?

In fact, I actually know one very successful real estate investor from Poland. His name is Pawel (he's about 47 years old). Owns a whole bunch of nice cars including a yellow Aventador SV, and that car is sick. You got to see it in person because pictures don't do justice to how crazy that thing is! He also told me on Whatsapp that he ordered his new Pagani which is obviously sick! He's probably gonna be the first polish Pagani owner in Poland.

Plus, Pagani just opened their new dealer in Warsaw which shows that there are people with a lot of money in eastern europe, so there's a market for Pagani level vehicles around Poland/Russia/Czech Republic.

true. there's also one man called arkadiusz zgorzelski. famous fastlane real estate entrepreneur from szczecin.

 

[theazizmoh_]

If you make $10,000 in my country(kuwait) then you are Rich ASF

 

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[NeoDialectic]

If you make $10,000 in my country(kuwait) then you are Rich ASF

I am guessing this is only for things that are locally sourced though right? Things like Real Estate & Food. But how do you access everything outside of that without being limited severely?

 

[gpetukhov]

Owning a physical store in a 3rd world country like Ukraine, India or Pakistan? Very difficult to get to a dollar multi-millionaire status when the currency is so weak and potential prospects earn less than $100-$200 a month.

Online businesses? No restrictions really. You can sell to clients with better currenices.

There's multi millionaires and big ballers in every country.

I remember when I was in Budapest, Hungary which is classified as a one of the "poorest" countries in Europe and I can say with 100% certainty; During my stay there back in 2019 when we saw the Hungarian Grand Prix, me and my dad saw way more supercars than I what I see in Norway. Aventador SV Roadster, Audi R8s, Ferrari 512TR, Ferrari California, Ferraris, Bentleys, G Wagons etc. This is what you call a poor country? And this comes from someone who lives in Norway, which is in the top 3-5 countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world.

Same thing with most eastern european countries like Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Romania etc. These countries are way richer than you think.

This fallacy probably comes from the fact that there's a huge wealth divide between the wealthy (0.1%) and the 99.9%(lower/middle class).

100% - there are certainly pockets of very wealthy individuals in Eastern European countries - plus future GDP growth is more likely to occur there as well

 

[theazizmoh_]

I am guessing this is only for things that are locally sourced though right? Things like Real Estate & Food. But how do you access everything outside of that without being limited severely?

You can build an ecommerce business

 

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[Ing]

Here in Germany, its not so easy to get a millionaire as it is in USA.
Look at Arny: he had to go to USA to get rich. He went to the USA and just started a Construction business. Built houses and parts of houses and began to make his fortune.

In Germany he first had to make an 3,5 year education for the first title, 2 years for the second title, a lot of money for the lawyers to start his business and asome decent money for the business itself.

If you got a lot of money, its easier the make more, but they don t let people easily get up.


Sure its possible. With the same systems. A friend began with clothes trading, got scammed, began again, didnt work.
He began a google ads system just in the beginning og google and grew quite big with them. So he had money and came into business. And he is now able to make a 10 m+ business in 2 years. So it is possible. easier, if you already have money, but not as easy as in USA.

In the last 3 years I tried several things, but the German reality allways got me again. So that now I m frustrated and left with no power for a next try in the next months.

If I had the money and no roots here, maybe I would immediately go to USA and try the same things I did here.

 

[savefox]

I had to leave my country because it's isolated from the rest of the world now and there was a big chance of being drafted into the war. Thanks putin

 

[RisingStars]

There are a lot of hyper-successful fastlane ventures here that basically just copied a successful company from the US in a 'foreign' country. I feel like this is getting harder and harder to do, as the world is getting more connected and with things like Amazon FBA it's pretty easy for any US based company to set up distribution in the EU.

I've heard that there is much more red-tape to overcome when starting a company in Germany for example, but this also eliminates many competitors who are not serious. It does hinder innovation tho, as it is much more expensive and risky to throw something completely new out there.

From my personal experience I would guess it is even easier to get some traction in a country like Germany, but way harder to have a giant success. In the physical products space there are many (american) companies who sold for 8-9 figures after just a couple years in business (e.g. Native, Quest Bar, Hero cosmetics, RxBar).
Often they have a very small team too, I think Native sold for 100M when they had just 8 employees. Pretty much unheard of in Germany.

My take is, if one is living in a first world country, becoming a millionaire is just as much possible as becoming one in the US. There are just advantages/disadvantages for each country. Making 8 or 9 figures is probably easier in the US, due to scale.

 

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[Tau Ceti]

This is an interesting topic.

I come from a central European country (think, Germany, France, Italy) and even though you see some signs of wealth, nobody talks about it. In fact displaying wealth is really badly seen.
Its very hard to talk about money with people and there is a constant battle between the high earners and the low earners.

The mindset is also very different. Before leaving my home country, I can recall the reaction that people had when they saw a super-car on the street. It always went something like this, this person is so wealthy because:
- they exploited someone else(aka the workers)
- they inherited their wealth
- they dodged taxes

With that kind of mindset, it is really hard to grow a business, let alone a fastlane business.
In my home country, the most popular job is working for the government. Why? Simple, the pay rises with inflation, you get 6 weeks of holiday per year and once you are in, after a few years, you can't really be fired.

So there you have it. If you combine an aversion for wealth(while secretly dreaming that you could have it) and a low risk, low growth mindset, you end up with an anemic society.

It's no wonder all the entrepreneurs are leaving the country(including me).

 

[2cher]

Парни, я просто живу в Беларуси и гнию заживо, it's OK.

 

[tomzestatlu]

I´m still wrapping my head around this.

I´ve made some assumptions about the situation in my country (Czech republic) in this thread before.
I personally don´t know anybody, who would meet anything close to fastlane success.

I´m not claiming it´s not possible. Everything is possible.
Companies that reach 8 figures turnover are considered to be the biggest players. I can sense that in the US, such numbers are not that big deal. On the other hand being a dollar millionaire is still huge thing here.

Hot topic of this forum and modern entrepreneurship is copywriting. I took a look on local freelance website and it make me think: Why would someone do it? The average price for one page of text (1800 letters or around 250 words) is less than 10 USD pretax. And I´m talking about top copywriters with 5 stars reviews.

At this moment it doesn´t make any sense to me to focus on local market. It´s size and mentality of people is uncomparable with USA. But it does make sense to get revenue from USA (or some richer Western European country).

 

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[adl75]

Hello everyone, I agree with many of you that in Anglo markets, you have access to a larger market... but should the same be true for China or Russia...?!

Not to be too long:
I would like to open a winemaking business (I already have some experience in this area... I already produce a little..) with a possible winery and various services for third parties... do you think it could be a Fastlane!?
Does it meet the CENTS requirements?

My first doubt is: does it solve a problem?
Actually not much, a winery that solves a problem, need?
But it's also true that many owners, at least here in Italy, are millionaires!
Thanks in advance

 

[svekk1]

My first doubt is: does it solve a problem?Actually not much, a winery that solves a problem, need?

Well it does not solve a problem but surely satisfies a desire. I don't know much about wines but if you are in a great region and execute properly, there are possibilities in it