The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Here I go again, on my own... (My intro + looking for slowlane $)

Topics related to Slowlane, Scripted mainstream dogma

The-J

Dog Dad
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
264%
Aug 28, 2011
4,199
11,079
Ontario
I was listening to that Whitesnake song and I was wondering about my life's direction. It got me to think a lot about what has happened in life so far and how I am going to progress, from my current Sidewalker position to my goal in the Fastlane.

So my intro is gonna go here, because I have a couple questions.

I'm The J. I'm 18 years old living in NYC. I'm at one of the best business schools in the US (you could probably guess what that school is if I'm in NYC, so no need to say it :p). I'm from Delaware originally.

My parents are immigrants who are in the Slowlane. They worked very hard to get to where they are: they lost their accents and went to college, eventually landing 5 figure salaries in middle management. To a lot of people, they are successful.

We lost very little in the housing crash. We had never had an intention to move and we were able to cover our mortgage cost (15 year) with a lot extra. My parents are hardcore savers. They always talked about 401k plans and how important they were. However, my mom quit her job to take care of my little siblings and my dad became the sole breadwinner. From there, I realized a lot of things. First off, the perceived lack of money really scared my parents. We never went out to eat and I was never allowed out of the house. Since Delaware is impossible to navigate without a car and gas is not cheap, I was never allowed to take the car. Not only that, but I did not end up getting a job; I had been rejected for a variety of reasons including my age.

Somehow I ended up here in NYC this year at a very good school. However, at $53,000 with minimal financial aid ($12.5k from the school, $11,000 from my dad's GI bill for his service during 9/11 and $6,000 for housing) we have to take out the remainder in loans. Surprisingly, my parents actually didn't mind when I crept into their finances, so I happen to know that they cannot afford to pay off the loans anytime soon. This coupled with many other reasons (I don't really like NYC that much. Too grimy and expensive) has led me to decide to leave school after next semester. I'm taking on the burden of my student loan remainder for the year.

I did not initially want to share my story as I assumed that some of you would scoff at it or something, but I feel like it needs to be said, since entrepreneurship will be, basically, the rest of my life.

My dream is to become an angel investor and to spearhead projects that I believe will be revolutionary, and I feel that the only way to do that will be to build my own system and learn from that what creates a lucrative system, so I can invest the money I make from whatever lucrative system I build into other lucrative (or non-profit) systems. My interest is in information systems.

Right now I need some ideas to get some slowlane money. I was thinking about doing tutoring for high school students, such as math/writing help and college admissions help. Does anyone have any experience with tutoring? If so, does it bring in a good amount of money? If not, what kinds of ways did you guys make slowlane money while you built your fastlane system? Thanks a lot.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

garyfritz

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
116%
Jul 16, 2011
694
807
Colorado
Bravo to you for having the personal responsibility to take on your own loans. Too many people your age would say "hey, mom and dad are paying for it, so I don't have to."

I have no experience with tutoring but I doubt you will make a lot doing that. If you want to save, you're going to have to minimize your expenses -- which means getting out of NYC and possibly moving back in with your parents?

There aren't a lot of decent-paying slowlane job options if you have no college or experience. There are too many slowlaners out there competing for what's available. Maybe do tutoring or whatever to pay the bills, and then come up with some type of business to pay off the loans & start building your stash?

Sounds to me like you've got a lot more maturity and drive than most people your age. That puts you waaay ahead of most slowlaners. Good luck to you!
 

Vigilante

Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
596%
Oct 31, 2011
11,116
66,265
Gulf Coast
J - I am convinced that just about anyone could build a decent short term cash flow deploying the craigslist flipping strategy that is being discussed elsewhere on these forums. I am too lazy to go find it for you... but find it. It takes very little cash to get rolling, and I have tried a few things and know that it works. Easy way to generate progressive, accumulating cash for a short term plan.
 

wade1mil

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
247%
Jun 29, 2011
1,803
4,448
In a very broad sense, you kind of remind me of Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos. I'm about half way through his book and if you have time, I'd give it a read. He produced it in audio format as well. He goes into detail about the different businesses that he started from the time he was a kid. The reason I say broad sense is because a couple of the businesses he created were while he was attending Harvard. You might want to check it out.

Edit: The book is called Delivering Happiness.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0446563048/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

The-J

Dog Dad
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
264%
Aug 28, 2011
4,199
11,079
Ontario
J - I am convinced that just about anyone could build a decent short term cash flow deploying the craigslist flipping strategy that is being discussed elsewhere on these forums. I am too lazy to go find it for you... but find it. It takes very little cash to get rolling, and I have tried a few things and know that it works. Easy way to generate progressive, accumulating cash for a short term plan.

That was actually part of my plan! I had struck my first deal a few weeks back, but I was busy that day so I couldn't make it in time. I would use eBay in conjunction with craigslist for a couple months, hopefully not for much longer than a year.

The tutoring was an idea so I could get a bit of money for only a few hours a week of working, not as a full time thing. I was also thinking about holding self defense classes (I'm a black belt) and teaching computer literacy and repair (I'm a certified IT technician and Microsoft Certified Professional) just for a good steady flow of money for the time being. I don't want to get a part-time job because of my lack of job experience, I would be spending a lot of time trying to get one and failing multiple times. I was once rejected from a local McDonalds.

I suppose my fear of failing to get a job shouldn't deter me as entrepreneurship is full of failure, but I can't help but feel that being rejected from menial labor doesn't really teach me as much as failing in business. Then again, failing in business can be much more costly.
 

winch

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
12%
Sep 6, 2011
105
13
That was actually part of my plan! I had struck my first deal a few weeks back, but I was busy that day so I couldn't make it in time. I would use eBay in conjunction with craigslist for a couple months, hopefully not for much longer than a year.

Excuses, excuses... :smxB:

The tutoring was an idea so I could get a bit of money for only a few hours a week of working, not as a full time thing. I was also thinking about holding self defense classes (I'm a black belt) and teaching computer literacy and repair (I'm a certified IT technician and Microsoft Certified Professional) just for a good steady flow of money for the time being. I don't want to get a part-time job because of my lack of job experience, I would be spending a lot of time trying to get one and failing multiple times. I was once rejected from a local McDonalds.

I suppose my fear of failing to get a job shouldn't deter me as entrepreneurship is full of failure, but I can't help but feel that being rejected from menial labor doesn't really teach me as much as failing in business. Then again, failing in business can be much more costly.

Do you mean tutoring at your university or doing it privately? Either way, having tutored people and known tutors in school, I think you'd be better off trying something else.

I won't offer specific advice for alternatives, as I don't like talking outside my realm of experience. But regarding those job rejections, let them teach you that the menial labor isn't for you, and that you're capable of something better. There's a variety of reasons you could have been rejected from Mickey D's (and it isn't because you aren't capable of working in a fast food joint), but did you really want the job anyway? I'm guessing no, and now you don't have it. Take advantage of it.
 

The-J

Dog Dad
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
264%
Aug 28, 2011
4,199
11,079
Ontario
winch said:
Do you mean tutoring at your university or doing it privately? Either way, having tutored people and known tutors in school, I think you'd be better off trying something else.

Privately for high school students looking to get into high-level universities (like SAT help, essay help, etc.)

I don't have too much coding experience but I am learning PHP (at a slow pace; school work takes up a large chunk of my time) and HTML (I've been coding websites since I was 10, but since it's been that long I need to refresh my skills). Is coding websites for some small change a decent way to make some money? I know MJ did it and I know other people here do it, and my area is chock full of tech start-ups looking for designers.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

458

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
343%
May 21, 2011
1,144
3,919
Privately for high school students looking to get into high-level universities (like SAT help, essay help, etc.)

I don't have too much coding experience but I am learning PHP (at a slow pace; school work takes up a large chunk of my time) and HTML (I've been coding websites since I was 10, but since it's been that long I need to refresh my skills). Is coding websites for some small change a decent way to make some money? I know MJ did it and I know other people here do it, and my area is chock full of tech start-ups looking for designers.

Think of the internet as a place lots of people go to give you money.
 

KhayShenz

PARKED
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
0% - New User
Nov 3, 2011
30
0
Wyzant dot com - good tutoring website for a little cash flow.

I tutored Math/Engineering when my hours got reduced - I'm not that doing that anymore. I've got my hours back - though now I don't want my hours back. Heh, funny how that works.

I' m still in the slow lane so there's not much advise that I can dish out.

All the best to you!
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top