First, my name is Max. I am 20 years old, turning 21 in July. I graduated HS in 2023, I didn't go to college. I took about 6 months of "time off" then I decided to get a job which I have been at for just over two years. All I have to show for it is $9.5k in a 401k, $8.9k in VOO, $500 in a just opened IRA, and roughly $4k just randomly saved in a couple different bank accounts. I'm tired of getting up early, working 8-10 hours a day and having little free time. I think about how other workers, my coworkers and just other people doing the "normal" thing with their lives are happy. I don't feel happy and I've only been working a job like this for two years. It feels like I'm getting nowhere even though my supervisor and lead tech tell me that if I wanted to stay doing this I could go high into managment making "6 figures a year" only if i decided to go to school for something, I'm not too sure what. But I know that I don't want to be an employee the rest of my life, I just feel stuck.
Back when I was 15 or 16 years old me and a friend tried to start a window washing company, we got paid for ONE house then we "practiced" really just washed his brothers windows for free. We argued quite consistently, he was lazy or something and never wanted to do anymore houses. Not that I am blaming him, I am just as at fault for not going ahead and doing houses without him. Then a year or two later, I tried to provide a service to home owners where I would bring their trash cans out to the street the night before trash day and then bring them in after their trash got picked up. I got no customers, it went no where. I gave up on that after a little while. Then my senior year of HS I tried, on my own this time, to wash peoples windows. I got 2 one-time clients, I want to say that is the most amount of money I've ever made in 6 hours. I tried to knock doors in a neighborhood near my own a couple of times. But either no one would answer the door, their husband does it or "they already have someone who washes their windows for them." My conclusion: I am not a good closer. Then in my 6 month off period, I half-a$$ tried to start a cleaning company, where I would pay a cleaner a percent of what I made and then keep the rest/put it back into the business. I got a llc, an ein, and I made a website. But I didn't make it past there. It must have gotten "hard" or real and I got scared, I don't know. I gave up on that and got a job. Then about 6 months ago from today, I tried to start an all American clothing company. Think American made fabric/shirts and other clothes, 1776, 2FA rights, American grit and hard working people. I used ChatGPT to make some shirt "ideas" i made some tik toks I saw like 5 people interested, while I was making a website, finding the American used fabric, American made shirts. I ordered a blank from one company, didn't like it. Ordered another and loved it. But that's as far as I got. Writing this all out makes me realize if I just picked ONE idea and stuck with it longer than a month I could have something good. It is my own fault for not having something to show besides all these "failed" half-assed attempts at starting a business.
Cuurently, I am feeling depressed. I don't want to keep making just enough. I don't want to keep making someone else rich from my hardwork. I'm tired of not being able to live my life how I want to live my life. Being able to afford to do my hobbies and passions. I just finished listening to Unscripted , it made me realize I'm not good with audiobooks. I'm currently reading TMF , only seven chapters in. Once I finish it I plan on getting a physical copy on Unscripted and actually reading it this time.
It is crazy, when I started writing I didn't know what to write and then it just started flowing. I don't want to be seen as "complaining" and I sure as hell am tired of just dreaming of not having to worry about money to take care of those I care about, driving whatever I want and owning and living in a house however big. This was a lot of words just to say I don't have a lot of experience in business and I don't currently have one. Thank you for taking the time to read my probably way too wordy introduction here. I look forward to reading about some of you and growing here as an entreprenuer rather than an employee.
Back when I was 15 or 16 years old me and a friend tried to start a window washing company, we got paid for ONE house then we "practiced" really just washed his brothers windows for free. We argued quite consistently, he was lazy or something and never wanted to do anymore houses. Not that I am blaming him, I am just as at fault for not going ahead and doing houses without him. Then a year or two later, I tried to provide a service to home owners where I would bring their trash cans out to the street the night before trash day and then bring them in after their trash got picked up. I got no customers, it went no where. I gave up on that after a little while. Then my senior year of HS I tried, on my own this time, to wash peoples windows. I got 2 one-time clients, I want to say that is the most amount of money I've ever made in 6 hours. I tried to knock doors in a neighborhood near my own a couple of times. But either no one would answer the door, their husband does it or "they already have someone who washes their windows for them." My conclusion: I am not a good closer. Then in my 6 month off period, I half-a$$ tried to start a cleaning company, where I would pay a cleaner a percent of what I made and then keep the rest/put it back into the business. I got a llc, an ein, and I made a website. But I didn't make it past there. It must have gotten "hard" or real and I got scared, I don't know. I gave up on that and got a job. Then about 6 months ago from today, I tried to start an all American clothing company. Think American made fabric/shirts and other clothes, 1776, 2FA rights, American grit and hard working people. I used ChatGPT to make some shirt "ideas" i made some tik toks I saw like 5 people interested, while I was making a website, finding the American used fabric, American made shirts. I ordered a blank from one company, didn't like it. Ordered another and loved it. But that's as far as I got. Writing this all out makes me realize if I just picked ONE idea and stuck with it longer than a month I could have something good. It is my own fault for not having something to show besides all these "failed" half-assed attempts at starting a business.
Cuurently, I am feeling depressed. I don't want to keep making just enough. I don't want to keep making someone else rich from my hardwork. I'm tired of not being able to live my life how I want to live my life. Being able to afford to do my hobbies and passions. I just finished listening to Unscripted , it made me realize I'm not good with audiobooks. I'm currently reading TMF , only seven chapters in. Once I finish it I plan on getting a physical copy on Unscripted and actually reading it this time.
It is crazy, when I started writing I didn't know what to write and then it just started flowing. I don't want to be seen as "complaining" and I sure as hell am tired of just dreaming of not having to worry about money to take care of those I care about, driving whatever I want and owning and living in a house however big. This was a lot of words just to say I don't have a lot of experience in business and I don't currently have one. Thank you for taking the time to read my probably way too wordy introduction here. I look forward to reading about some of you and growing here as an entreprenuer rather than an employee.
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