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How much are/were you making at your slowlane job?

Real Deal Denver

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$75k a year working in IT.

Made several swings at the fastlane that have not gone Fastlane as of yet. I struggle more with ideas and traction than planning and execution.

I might be able to help you a bit, as I am exactly the opposite. I have ideas I'm literally wading through, hip deep.

I want two biz ventures that can easily expand - require no rented office space - and I can delegate all the work out. Sound impossible?

Here are two that you can start this week. Your IT experience should allow you to launch these big time. Promoting is the name of the game. Do that well, and you can sell ice cubes to Eskimos.

First. I like this one because the demand and market is so damn huge. And it's an easy job.

Commercial cleaning. It's done after hours. Easy to master. Constant demand. Easy to delegate. Repeat steady business. Easy to grow. Ease into it with carpet steam cleaning. Add the whole cleaning package. Manage snacks and coffee as an option. Make it impossible for them to say no. Sheeet man - what a biz this could be. But does anyone do all of that now? No. Why not? They don't think like a marketer.

Second. I like this one because it's like owning an ATM machine. Takes some skill, but the sky is the limit here.

Leads. Create social marketing and SEO for customers using YOUR resources - i.e. your website. You own the matrix of what makes the money. Then you sell the leads. Other companies are doing this, but not all that well. Think; Angie's List, Yelp, Home Advisor, Yellow Pages. They try to mass market though. And their methods suck. I know - I've tried them. Do one on one with high paying services, like Medical, Dental, Vacation Packages. The list is endless. I go through a company that plans vacations - Apple Travel. I've had bad experiences without them, and I've had great experiences with them - so with them I go. They don't slap things together - they do a really good job, even though they are the middleman and don't do the work themselves.

Some do this and call it digital marketing. This better because it's ongoing and you own the network. Some business don't want the whole set-up. They want to pay for the results and have you manage/do it.

In fact, I can't think of a business that DOESN'T need superior marketing. And so many of them do an absolute crap job of it that it's embarrassing.

@Johnny boy does one of the basic things in biz - lawn mowing. And he's taken it to a whole different level.

Here's another one - Limo drivers! Oh wait...
 
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Soulrize

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At 25 I make about 21.67 an hour or 45k plus overtime a year. Financial analyst where I read deal contracts and interpret and understand the execution of it. (I feel like lawyer type stuff) Its alright.
 

Sandholdt

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I am 27 and work as a production manager. 63k + 10% for my 401k (non-optional).
I put in an average of ~40 hours weekly.
 

Benji90

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29 years old, currently making £25k a year - my goal is to be able to make £2k a month profit while work/travelling, currently taking an udemy course to see if I 'get' web development.
 
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TKDTyler

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28yr @ ~300k/years as a lead engineer in the Silicon Valley. Fortunately, it is in a very fascinating field where I’m growing and learning a ton on someone else’s dime - doesn’t stop my business from running in the back either.
 

JWM

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I’m just curious.

Currently 26 years old, $37/hr now. But have potential to work overtime for times a half.
At 27yo I was earning $110k AUD per year. The pay raise from 80k to 110k came within a month of deciding to leave the slowlane, still didn't keep me there
 

Pinnacle

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I never made even $40k/yr until I started a business on the side.

Far too much work involved to get incremental (and negligible) raises when I can increase my income exponentially by getting more sales for my business.
 
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Roughneck

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33yo and currently taking 118k (AUD) + super, with my second job I take home roughly additional 15-20k + super a year. Can be lots of hours though and not a good work/life balance.
 

minivanman

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Under $6 an hour. Heck, I worked 120 hours a WEEK @ $5.15 an hour, rode my bicycle to work through 3 blizzards and was damn happy to do it. lmao Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing because if I did, I would not be where I am today and if I was not where I am today.... life would SUCK!!! Livin the dream thanks to those times.
 
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MattR82

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Oil and gas construction. About 170k USD. Works out about 80 per hour.

Couldn't wait to get out of there. Not often physically difficult, mostly machines, but it was like being in jail.
 

Real Deal Denver

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Oil and gas construction. About 170k USD. Works out about 80 per hour.

Couldn't wait to get out of there. Not often physically difficult, mostly machines, but it was like being in jail.

I knew oil and gas paid good, but I had no idea that good.

Can you give some examples of what was bad about the job? I know a young single guy that is a go-getter and this might work out for him to bank some bucks.

Thanks ~
 

MattR82

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I knew oil and gas paid good, but I had no idea that good.

Can you give some examples of what was bad about the job? I know a young single guy that is a go-getter and this might work out for him to bank some bucks.

Thanks ~
This was on barrow island in Australia during the construction boom of mining/oil and gas. Those days are kind of long gone though. Was crazy times for a good period though.

Bad part is being away on a desert island working every day for 4 weeks then getting 9 days off. Saw a lot of marriages break up and a lot of depression etc.

Maybe an even time roster of 2 weeks on 2 weeks off would be ok though.
 
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Spicymemer45

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$15.00/Hr as an armed security guard

The army paid me less for an average of 60-70 hours a week (But hey, free "housing")
 

Mixwell

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34 years old here. Work in Hong Kong at a large U.S.-based financial services firm earning ~$180k (tax adjusted for low HK tax rates ~$250k in the major U.S. city where I previously worked). Struggle daily with the large corporate bureaucracy and those who define themselves by slowlane attributes. Working on a fastlane exit in next two years.
 
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Strm

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About 16-17€/h working abroad. Usually working 3 weeks and then a week or a bit more home in Estonia and I earn around 3K with this time. Is considered a good money in my home country. I can save up about 1.5-2K each month. This allows me to invest in my projects and I'm planning to quit this job around march-april 2020, get a new one in Estonia (If i need it) and have more time to work on business projects. I just need to remind myself sometimes that this too is part of the whole process. It's funny, I'm less stressed about working in slowlane than most, even though I'm desperate to get out.

Another thing that I've noticed. I'm not the most experienced or not the fastest worker(working in construction). Also I have my small side business so I have to do these things while working sometimes :D But I'm pretty much the first one who get's a raise, and one of the few highest paid workers in the company, while being one of the newest members. Not because what I do, but because who I am. Be a good person, helpful to others, positive even in the darkest of mornings. Notice others when they struggle and also when they're doing well. That's the least you can do to start earning more money. The leaders will notice this and they value this. These are the treats of true leaders. This will also help you tremendously in entrepreneurship.
 
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spreng

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24, 100k.

Currently all I do is work and network. Planning on, in 5 years, to build a SaaS company with high performers that I have shortlisted.
 

Rinzler

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27 years old,no degree making $46k a year w/ full benefits working for a State Department in California. Job is crazy stable, non challenging and essentially I'm also getting paid to learn while on the clock. However, the money gets tighter every year in this state and I'm seriously impressed at some of you in my age range making 2x-3x more.

Luckily I have the time to make sh*t happen, but having the funds to take an idea off the ground is always my struggle. (Consistency, discipline and execution aren't up to par either when I know I live close to being paycheck to paycheck)

For the last year or so I've been chasing the idea of getting a better paying job as a safety net to then pursue building a Fastlane... but maybe I need to start from scratch and read MJ's books again :smuggy:
 
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100ToOne

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Last job:

$1.2/hr. 6 days a week. 12 hours a day.

If I was lucky:

$2.4/hr. 6 days a week. 12 hours a day. (with comission)

You barely live with that. That's average salaries over here however.
 

daivey

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33, $100k CAD... full benefits.. (pension, insurance, 5 weeks vacation).

job is super easy. but im dying. inside.
 

Ernman

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I was making $189K/yr when I was laid off. I was planning to quit anyway, so the layoff allowed me to collect a severance for a while. My commute was 1.5 hours one way, M-F. Work days were routinely around 10 hrs, some longer. Some weekend work to catch up and some weekend travel.
 
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babyballer

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I make at least 200k a year. I am in IT sales. Still not enough to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
 

Antifragile

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33, $100k CAD... full benefits.. (pension, insurance, 5 weeks vacation).

job is super easy. but im dying. inside.

Hey toronto, what are you up to these days? Still dying or Fastlane?
 

hellolin

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So 3 year update. Still in the slowlane, but with a lot free time on and off work now, in a high paying job that pays me $165k TC in tech. However, I leveraged the remote working craze and moved out of the big expensive blue city to a MCOL city in another state where part of the company I work for is located at. I am closer to all the Fastlaners here now as well, just bought my first property at $350k even at today's market. Turns out life can be a low slower and easier once I was out of the mega metros of the coasts.
 
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Ronnie Bryan

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16 per hour presently but have been told I should negotiate for 18 from my boss who said I am worth that after three years learning electrical, plumbing and heating and air maintenanceing apartments
 
G

Guest-5ty5s4

Guest
I’m just curious.

Currently 26 years old, $37/hr now. But have potential to work overtime for times a half.
I make the same exact amount at the same exact age now, but the company I work for is my family's business.

I have my own real estate investment though that I saved for by living at home, plus two other side businesses, both with fastlane potential. Have some inside threads. I wonder if anyone else can relate? It's a special situation.
 

Timmy C

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Jun 12, 2018
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31 years old, making $100,000 a year as a prison officer.
Making about $15,000 a year from my business aswell.

It's not enough, especially after this inflation and COL increases.

FYI I'm Australian, cost of living a bit more than USA.
 
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Rinzler

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30 years old, I make $24.03 an hour working full time as a buyer for an eyecare company.
It's work from home but I live in California so most of my paycheck goes to rent and bills. Unfortunately it has gotten to the point where I may need to pick up a second job in order to properly save for anything else worth pursuing.

I feel very stuck without a degree or meaningful connections and don't know if my current role really has any growth opportunities after being here 2 years. Seems pretty well known across the company that we're all paid below "industry standard".
 
G

Guest-5ty5s4

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30 years old, I make $24.03 an hour working full time as a buyer for an eyecare company.
It's work from home but I live in California so most of my paycheck goes to rent and bills. Unfortunately it has gotten to the point where I may need to pick up a second job in order to properly save for anything else worth pursuing.

I feel very stuck without a degree or meaningful connections and don't know if my current role really has any growth opportunities after being here 2 years. Seems pretty well known across the company that we're all paid below "industry standard".
Sounds like you probably live in one of the most expensive places in the country. You could either move somewhere else to get saving more or you could use the expensiveness to your advantage and start your business now and charge more. Even something like cleaning gutters can be highly lucrative around cities like LA, San Fran etc

In a business like that you could set your rates up to make at least $100 per hour. And you don’t have to do that forever, either...
 

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