Hello from a Dutch lass who wants (and needs!) to floor it

[NanetteD]

Hi all! Have been lurking in the background a bit. This place seems like one of those gems where you can really find yourself likeminded ppl!

This weekend I will finish reading the Millionaire Fastlane . And right on time

I have been building my products/services business in two days a week for the past two years (the other days busy 'onboarding' two little kids into life). Before that I was busy trying to make waves in the slow lane. I'm in the marketing industry. Love being a solo entrepreneur. Can't imagine going back to a job. Only see now how unfit I was for hanging around as a jobbee.

Now here's the thing.

In the same month as my youngest son went to boarding school, I pulled the plug out of the dysfunctional marriage my husband and I were having. Painful, but it is for the best.

I get to keep the house, which is worth twice as much as when I bought it for myself in 2006.

Apart from that property on paper, I have almost zero cash as I come out of this marriage. I do have EUR 23k in payments which are coming in at some point over the coming 6 months (from clients I landed that pay in 3 installments). For the past two years I have invested nearly all of the revenue straight back into myself (leadership/coaching, let's say I was a recovering fear of failure addict).

At this point I have developed:
- two long-term, happy clients who decided to book me for a year (payments in 3 parts, a total of 22k in euro's coming in over the next 10 months). So that's the service part of my business (which is coaching/training and some dfy writing)
- a product for leads (8 week training) which is scalable. pilot is running now. i'll be launching it in January.
- an idea for a core product to offer after that (training/coaching), also scalable
- a marketing funnel that lands me leads (content marketing, opt-in, free training) for those scalable products
- & nurtured a loyal audience, mostly on linkedin & e-mail (content marketing)
- a strategy to have two to three sales conversations a week
- my own framework for finding & landing dream clients (still finetuning)

You see. I put in a lot of work. I am so ready for the fastlane.

There's one decision I need to make really soon:
A) keep the house as my own (and be in a 20k debt, with no cash but with my own property)
B) sell my house to my brother (and have no debt, no property, 120k in cash oh and i am his heir)

I want to pick A. I want to be brave like that. But to be honest. It feels so scary to trust that all the work I put in will deliver revenue on time.

@MJ DeMarco & others: What would your advice be if I was a relative who you loved dearly?

 

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[Champion]

Hi Nanette,

First of all, thanks a lot for taking the time to write all this up, I can see a lot of work went into it!

After reading your post, I am absolutely certain, that you will successfully build your Fastlane business, it is only a matter of time.

You have the correct mindset, work ethic and life conditions to make it happen

I will not offer any more advice on strategies/tactics which can be implemented in your business, since you seem to have already figured that out, however, I do have some advice to share regarding your question about selling the house.

My Advice: Sell the house to your brother, as you might desperately need the cash to ensure you dont run out of money and that you can keep focusing on whats important.

Here is a quote I would like to share: "Money is like oxygen: when its available, you dont even notice its there... however, when its gone or missing, you will think about and crave nothing else more!"

In other words, right now you have enough money to focus on your business 100%. However, if this situation changes in the coming months and you actually start worrying about it again, this will have a severe negative impact on your performance and execution of the business plan.

From reading your post, I understood that you have 2-3 Children that still need to be taken care of financially.

Now, im not saying this will happen, but just painting a really bad scenario (which could actually happen):

Due to your divorce, your husband becomes completely unable to handle his own life and because of that, cannot help support the kids financially anymore. The burden of paying for boarding school, food, clothes, etc.. is left completely on you.

Then, next month, one of your "Long-Term" clients might not be able to pay, or worse, cancel their contract. The 23k you were expecting is suddenly also in danger.

Would these situations result in you being FORCED to take another 9 to 5 job in order to pay for the basic life essentials for you or the kids?

There are many things which could happen, that will put you into a desperate situation, which you might not recover from.

You are in a good position right now. Why not sell the house and have absolute clarity and peace of mind that your financials and those of your children are taken care of for the next 2-3 years.

That way, you will be able to focus and execute your business plan 100%.

I hope this helps you a bit with the decision.

Best
Champion

 

[NanetteD]

Thanks for the time & energy you took for replying. It sure helps.

 

[RazorCut]

There's one decision I need to make really soon:
A) keep the house as my own (and be in a 20k debt, with no cash but with my own property)
B) sell my house to my brother (and have no debt, no property, 120k in cash oh and i am his heir)

I want to pick A. I want to be brave like that. But to be honest. It feels so scary to trust that all the work I put in will deliver revenue on time.

You need to pick the best option for both yourself and your children. If you WANT to pick A I would say run with it. The feelings you have are normal. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown. But you have a stable environment and must want to choose A for specific reasons.

If things don't work out for you (and from your post I think that unlikely) then you always have the option to sell at a later date even if that is not to your brother.

Having money can work against you as well as for you. Not having to hustle can cause you to back off on your efforts and not realise your dreams. Hardships create determination and active growth as you figure out what you need to do to prosper and execute on those decisions.

Those executions become habits and lead to greater prosperity as your confidence and resources increase.

 

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[RazorCut]

Oh and welcome to the forum Nanette. I think you'll fit in here really well.

 

[Sean P]

Welcome to The Fast Lane Forum!

I have been building my products/services business in two days a week for the past two years (the other days busy 'onboarding' two little kids into life).

That's a lot of work done already. If you've worked 2 days a week for 2 years you're much ahead of most self-styled online entrepreneurs who do almost nothing in the first few years and maybe more.

Moreover, looking after kids is a full-time job, just that it doesn't feel like a job even though it's much tougher than a real job with no timings either.

You see. I put in a lot of work. I am so ready for the fastlane.

Absolutely ready, much overdue! You have built your foundation in real life solo business experience which is what you really need to scale up and for the fastlane. No one can just jump in from nowhere and expect miracles to happen. You are on the right track, and sure to succeed by the looks of it.

I want to pick A. I want to be brave like that. But to be honest. It feels so scary to trust that all the work I put in will deliver revenue on time.

By picking A you'll go with your heart because you've owned and stayed in your house. Your head might say B because it makes you free of debt, and more practically gives you leverage in the form of some capital.

Pick B. Keep yourself free of debt, and focus on your plan for achieving your goals. Keep yourself accountable without the fear of failure and the reassurance of having something for a rainy day.

What would your advice be if I was a relative who you loved dearly?

Can't relate to this because I don't love any of my relatives - actually stay away from them...lol.

Wish you good luck and success!

 

[NanetteD]

Thought I'd share a quick update on this.

Went for option A. Got to keep the house (almost finalized). Made some understandable but costly business mistakes due to old patterns of dependency and someone taking advantage of that.

Covid hit. Now I'm rebuilding my business by repositioning & rebuilding my authority.

Kids are happy. Me too most of the time

 

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[Walter Hay]

Thought I'd share a quick update on this.

Went for option A. Got to keep the house (almost finalized). Made some understandable but costly business mistakes due to old patterns of dependency and someone taking advantage of that.

Covid hit. Now I'm rebuilding my business by repositioning & rebuilding my authority.

Kids are happy. Me too most of the time

It's good to see that you have made your decision. I would like to reassure you that I think it is the better way for you given your circumstances, ability, and ambitions.

Welcome to the most helpful forum on the planet. I do hope you will keep us posted on your progress. You have much to offer.

Walter