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How I will escape 9-5 job to work for my self and later build a team.. (journey here)

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

JohnFuture

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Hello everyone,

I will use this thread to post my journey. I think it's valuable to share because you never know if you will inspire someone, plus this works great for accountability.

It will include technical and mindset steps on how I am getting there.

I value time more than money, thus my current plan is to escape 9-5 bank IT-related job and work for my self.

Once I will have a chance to plan my own time and have enough funds, I will move to bigger projects and make an impact.

So far I have been lost and lonely since the majority of people around me are not the same minded as I am, I don't judge but each of us is different with different ambitions.

I have found a good way how to surround 'virtually' my self with the same minded people by listening to podcasts and reading books.
 
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JohnFuture

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Day 1 will start tomorrow.

I will dig inside to find a niche and product in:
  • drop shipping
  • print on demand
Why dropshipping? It gives me less dependency on procedures what must be done and the only thing I have to deal is marketing. All work will depend on me how hard I will do it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

p.s. Worth to mention this 'side hustle' I guess, my partner and I created a small team up to 12 people that are working now to create a game server. It is currently a non-profit since it takes time to set up everything and we don't pay wage nor we have an income yet. In fact, we are in a loss since we pay for the hosting, etc.

In spite of this other servers earn good money by selling inside game items. Thus, our plan is to do the same. It is just a time matter now.

In the begining, both of us did all the work (technical installations, configuration, team member interviews) now we found a co-owner who deals with everything.
 
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AppMan

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Glad to see some one in IT , I have same of your goal , and I ll keep watching your progress as I want to leave my 9 to 5 job too, tried many ideas no of them produced continues stream of income.

drop shipping
You might have some chance if you find a product that few people sell it, drop shipping margins getting thinner and thinner everyday.
print on demand
Do you mean printing promotional materials , etc ? if yes ,then it is already dead , unless you can print cheaper and faster than other competitors.
 

JohnFuture

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Glad to see some one in IT , I have same of your goal , and I ll keep watching your progress as I want to leave my 9 to 5 job too, tried many ideas no of them produced continues stream of income.


You might have some chance if you find a product that few people sell it, drop shipping margins getting thinner and thinner everyday.

Do you mean printing promotional materials , etc ? if yes ,then it is already dead , unless you can print cheaper and faster than other competitors.

What ideas did you tried so far?

If you look around there are e.g. a lot of barber shops, car garages etc. all of them work for the same purpose, but only a few of them do their best. I think action is the key, otherwise I could still stick with my 9-5 and say that there is no market share available for me.

By print on demand I mean print whatever you find based on niche and value that you want to give to a customer.
Check success stories in Printful: On-Demand Print & Embroidery Fulfillment and Warehousing Services and examples for the niche e.g. The Bad Dads Club

Recently I saw a video where there are two niches merged together 'pug and coffee' so for both coffee and pug lovers it's win-win.

Turn-off scarcity mindset and speak with more people and brainwash yourself with the content until you will start believe that even a simple idea can sell.
 
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JohnFuture

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Day 1
  1. Read a lot of info about how to find a niche from AliDropship - Start AliExpress Dropshipping Business On WordPress
  2. Tested different product keywords/ideas on google trends, google search, different smaller websites.

-I have found that those websites that sell something have a blog, it's worth to have a look, since they are interested in people who can buy their product and then use it as a tool.

-I have some ideas written down, but I understand that the research takes a time, so will continue tomorrow. This week will be more an education for my self, how to find a market -> niche -> product etc.

-Finally received "The Millionaire Fastlane '' will start to read once I finish book 'How to win friends and influence people'.
 

AppMan

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What ideas did you tried so far?
Regarding selling online I tried the following :
1- Selling Drones in ecommerce , it was good and every week there was order, even though I didnt put any marketing effords there, however once Walmart and retails start bring drones, their prices dropped , and order stopped .
2- AliAffiliate plugin: very easy to use, however google refuse to take its content
3- AliPlugin : Same thing you can list thousands of products , but google refuse to index them , so no organic traffics .
Bty , not telling you that to make you stop trying, just trying to save you some time
 

JohnFuture

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Regarding selling online I tried the following :
1- Selling Drones in ecommerce , it was good and every week there was order, even though I didnt put any marketing effords there, however once Walmart and retails start bring drones, their prices dropped , and order stopped .
2- AliAffiliate plugin: very easy to use, however google refuse to take its content
3- AliPlugin : Same thing you can list thousands of products , but google refuse to index them , so no organic traffics .
Bty , not telling you that to make you stop trying, just trying to save you some time

It seems you have experience in some selling. What're your next steps by escaping 9-5 ?
 
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JohnFuture

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Day 2

During this day I continued to research.

Started to sort drop shipping and print on demand links, tools, niche projects.

My end of the week aim is to have at least 2 products for print on demand and dropshipping.
 

drpeppehr

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Day 2

During this day I continued to research.

Started to sort drop shipping and print on demand links, tools, niche projects.

My end of the week aim is to have at least 2 products for print on demand and dropshipping.

Dude, you took two days to do some google searches? Quit BS'ing yourself. I'm all for documented progress threads and case studies, but I know action faking when I see it.

It should not take you a a day to 'sort links', or a week to find a couple of products. Spend a few hours and concentrate on what it is that you're really trying to do and make serious progress. Don't let days fly by making tiny ounces of progress each week only to come back and update your thread. You're not proving anything to anyone here or yourself by making this thread.

Go harder.
 

JohnFuture

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Dude, you took two days to do some google searches? Quit BS'ing yourself. I'm all for documented progress threads and case studies, but I know action faking when I see it.

It should not take you a a day to 'sort links', or a week to find a couple of products. Spend a few hours and concentrate on what it is that you're really trying to do and make serious progress. Don't let days fly by making tiny ounces of progress each week only to come back and update your thread. You're not proving anything to anyone here or yourself by making this thread.

Go harder.

Depends on how you understand research but I have to admit my writing isn't best in terms of documentation.

My current research is based on the niche and product finding, it is not I am just doing searches but also using tactics and approach to decide on the market. I understand that I have to act quicker but I have done this in the past and failed.

Thanks for the feedback drpeppehr.
 
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Matt Hunt

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I wouldn't put a lot of money into a product to dropship without doing enough research to be sure it's gonna be profitable! Measure twice, cut once! Yes, you don't want analysis paralysis, but flying by the seat of your pants isn't a good strategy, either!
 

AppMan

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It seems you have experience in some selling. What're your next steps by escaping 9-5 ?
I am building subscription based business, I found instead of competing with sellers all around the world , it is better to use my skills as software developer and build company.
However, I am struggling to progress due to my day job check my story here
 

JohnFuture

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I have decided that I won't note every day as day 1 , day 2 etc.

But will just do basic 'agile' where I will tell (for the task) what my aim is, what I have done and if there are any results.

My aim was to research different products based on trends and competitors. Now, I have at least 5 different products that I will test within 5 different websites.

Currently, I am setting up a WordPress website with the WooCommerce plugin. Once one shop is done I will duplicate that shop for other 4 shops.

Later I will dive into Facebook and Instagram ads, but for this later, precise info with my steps will follow.
 
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silentjay

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I have decided that I won't note every day as day 1 , day 2 etc.

But will just do basic 'agile' where I will tell (for the task) what my aim is, what I have done and if there are any results.

My aim was to research different products based on trends and competitors. Now, I have at least 5 different products that I will test within 5 different websites.

Currently, I am setting up a WordPress website with the WooCommerce plugin. Once one shop is done I will duplicate that shop for other 4 shops.

Later I will dive into Facebook and Instagram ads, but for this later, precise info with my steps will follow.

Good luck, I'm also going to start dipping into dropshipping, going the FB/insta ads route, be interested in hearing your journey.

A word about wordpress, my last successful business was based on WordPress + Gravity Forms. Was the equivalent of using a unicycle to climb Everest, awful experience but was so invested in it that changing it out for a decent tech stack wasn't a option. As you work in IT why don't you look at using a proper e-commerce app or even something like Shopify instead of a e-commerce hack bolted onto a blogging engine?
 

JohnFuture

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Hey silentjay,

Thanks for your reply and experience sharing.

I have a plan to make multiple sites, thus I calculated that WooCommerce will be cheaper for the time being. I do know that Shopify saves a lot of time, but now cash plays the game. Maybe I am wrong, but I will try this way.

I also decided that I will make three stores now, each of the stores will contain multiple products, thus it works better for upselling.
 

silentjay

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Hey silentjay,

Thanks for your reply and experience sharing.

I have a plan to make multiple sites, thus I calculated that WooCommerce will be cheaper for the time being. I do know that Shopify saves a lot of time, but now cash plays the game. Maybe I am wrong, but I will try this way.

I also decided that I will make three stores now, each of the stores will contain multiple products, thus it works better for upselling.

Fair play, be interested to see what works for and what doesn't.

Good idea regarding upsells, will also try having a few different pricier versions of the same product.
 
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drpeppehr

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Are you planning on doing three separate ad campaigns for three seperate products/stores?
 

JohnFuture

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Are you planning on doing three separate ad campaigns for three seperate products/stores?

Good question, haven't decided yet since I am still doing the item research.

I know there is a lot of info available online, but so far I have found those as a good source for the start of dropshipping:

1. Wholesale Ted (good experience sharing from different angles)
2. Ubersuggest (for keywords, item popularity etc.)
3. https://www.oberlo.com/
4. AliDropship - Start AliExpress Dropshipping Business On WordPress

I will share other links later that helped me.
 
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silentjay

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Good question, haven't decided yet since I am still doing the item research.

I know there is a lot of info available online, but so far I have found those as a good source for the start of dropshipping:

1. Wholesale Ted (good experience sharing from different angles)
2. Ubersuggest (for keywords, item popularity etc.)
3. https://www.oberlo.com/
4. AliDropship - Start AliExpress Dropshipping Business On WordPress

I will share other links later that helped me.

Thanks for the links. I'm following your lead and sacking Saleor off and going to use woocommerce instead, just need to get the ball rolling quickly. You can follow my progress here EXECUTION - If at first you don't succeed...
 
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AppMan

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I think 5 websites will just exhust you, with full time job you barley have time to market one website , remember selling is about marketing not setting up website and leave it there
Since you are IT person why not use free e-commerce such as os commerce or open cart ?
 

JohnFuture

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silentjay - thanks will have a look!

AppMan - I have checked those free e-commerce platforms but they look bad.

WooCommerce, since I have worked with a WordPress before. I agree with you that marketing is the key to profit.

I will do 3 stores at the moment, but I will start with one and then learn about marketing by doing it. For the dropshipping, I have to test if the idea works if not move on to the next item.
 

JohnFuture

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If you're setting up wordpress on your own servers check out EasyEngine, simplifies the process greatly
I will use a host online, not the best in terms or speed, but should work in the beginning. Thanks anyways for the info!

I am struggling now to get proper suppliers, meaning I want one supplier that would contain all necessary items, in case if the customer wants to get multiple items, it would be from one supplier rather than from many.

So far those AliExpress official suppliers aren't well responding (even though they have thousands nearly millions orders for each item). If they respond they answer, that they aren't interested in dropshiping (even when I explain co-operation in different words without using dropshipping).

So finding supplier that sees the vision (that will bring him profit) with a good feedback and proper items is tricky. I will try to go down with other suppliers with less feedback.

I have found those sites online, apparently it's good way of finding suppliers and items cheap as candy. (I will try to find someone who speaks their language, as it seems a good deal-breaker in the long run.)

- YOYbuy:The best Taobao agent.Buy cheap products from China and ship worldwide.
- www.1688.com (very cheap)


Another concern is the payment gateway.. I have heard bad stories that every drop shipper PayPal account get frozen, it also happened recently to one of my friends account. Best thing that they just say you're in the high risk class and won't give any other answer how to fix this..
 
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Salama2017

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Day 1
  1. Read a lot of info about how to find a niche from AliDropship - Start AliExpress Dropshipping Business On WordPress
  2. Tested different product keywords/ideas on google trends, google search, different smaller websites.

-I have found that those websites that sell something have a blog, it's worth to have a look, since they are interested in people who can buy their product and then use it as a tool.

-I have some ideas written down, but I understand that the research takes a time, so will continue tomorrow. This week will be more an education for my self, how to find a market -> niche -> product etc.

-Finally received "The Millionaire Fastlane '' will start to read once I finish book 'How to win friends and influence people'.
I suggest you start reading TMF right away. It might change the way that you look at business...especially businesses such as dropshipping.
 

JohnFuture

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I suggest you start reading TMF right away. It might change the way that you look at business...especially businesses such as dropshipping.
I left other book unfinished and started to read TMF a week ago.

How you can relate TMF with drop shipping or your experience?
 
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Salama2017

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I think dropshipping is a thing of the past. I tried it and it didn't work for me.
After reading TMF and Unscripted , I realized that dropshipping violates a few CENTs commandments... Especieally the Entry commandment.
I'm not trying to discourage you. However, I think reading the TMF might give you a different feel about dropshipping.
 

ShamanKing

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I think dropshipping is a thing of the past. I tried it and it didn't work for me.
After reading TMF and Unscripted , I realized that dropshipping violates a few CENTs commandments... Especieally the Entry commandment.
I'm not trying to discourage you. However, I think reading the TMF might give you a different feel about dropshipping.


I'm not speaking just for drop shipping but instead I think you should provide your experience and why you think it didn't work out for you. Things that may not work out for us may work for others. ;)
 

silentjay

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I think dropshipping is a thing of the past. I tried it and it didn't work for me.
After reading TMF and Unscripted , I realized that dropshipping violates a few CENTs commandments... Especieally the Entry commandment.
I'm not trying to discourage you. However, I think reading the TMF might give you a different feel about dropshipping.

I've just started pivoting from affiliate to dropshipping and I've already 2 dropship sales the last 2 days from a crappy ecwid ajax widget inserted into an existing site getting 20 visitors a day with no paid advertising just a organic FB post. Yeah no doubt it'll be a load of work, trial and error etc but for me I think it'll be a good opportunity to grow and stepping stone hopefully to bigger things, maybe designing my own products etc
 
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JohnFuture

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I've just started pivoting from affiliate to dropshipping and I've already 2 dropship sales the last 2 days from a crappy ecwid ajax widget inserted into an existing site getting 20 visitors a day with no paid advertising just a organic FB post. Yeah no doubt it'll be a load of work, trial and error etc but for me I think it'll be a good opportunity to grow and stepping stone hopefully to bigger things, maybe designing my own products etc

ecwid ajax widget, is that similar as WooCommerce?

What is your strategy in FB? By looking for specific problems and then offering solution (aka your product)?

I am determined to make my own products/technology in the future as well. Thus, people around earth would benefit, but I understand that I need a team for that and that would be too long to establish right now.

But as I stated before now my plan is to escape and plan my own time rather than 9 to 5.

Sometimes I hate when the idea fairy comes in and I can't just execute them as I am tied to something else.


@Salama2017 all of us would be grateful if you could tell us a bit why drop shipping it didn't work for you?

Perhaps drop shipping concept it self is old, but the way how marketing works is different. I can only see two positive sides of this is that I can learn how to sell online and get freedom with less dependencies by selling.

Maybe I am wrong, but I am trying.

Currently setting up WooCommerce, as a list with items is half done. Those items are popular, but I am not 100% sure who should be the target audience, so I can make better ads and not lose everything at once.
 

silentjay

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ecwid ajax widget, is that similar as WooCommerce?

What is your strategy in FB? By looking for specific problems and then offering solution (aka your product)?

I am determined to make my own products/technology in the future as well. Thus, people around earth would benefit, but I understand that I need a team for that and that would be too long to establish right now.

But as I stated before now my plan is to escape and plan my own time rather than 9 to 5.

Sometimes I hate when the idea fairy comes in and I can't just execute them as I am tied to something else.


@Salama2017 all of us would be grateful if you could tell us a bit why drop shipping it didn't work for you?

Perhaps drop shipping concept it self is old, but the way how marketing works is different. I can only see two positive sides of this is that I can learn how to sell online and get freedom with less dependencies by selling.

Maybe I am wrong, but I am trying.

Currently setting up WooCommerce, as a list with items is half done. Those items are popular, but I am not 100% sure who should be the target audience, so I can make better ads and not lose everything at once.

Ecwid is basically a cheaper version of shopify. Has an option to embed their store into an existing site. TBH I wouldn't use it for proper dropshipping sites, was just a quick fix while I sort something more permanent out.

I'm same boat as you, not looking at making millions just enough money to keep my head above water to continue to build my own income streams.

My current dropshipping sales are from a FB business page I've got with 7k members. I've tried boosting one or two posts but no luck, however I've not taking it seriously until I have my proper sites up.

Good luck with woocommerce, I hit a brick wall regarding customisation, got to a point where I realised it would be easier to build from the ground up than fight woocommerce/WP/multiple plugins to do exactly what I wanted.
 

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