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Ideas. Ideas. Ideas. Execution starts today.

Idea threads

Please read the OP from the TL;DR — Choose 2 businesses that make the most CENTS. Thx.


  • Total voters
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  • Poll closed .

Dave Daily

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Hi, I'm Dave.

This is the start of my progress thread. IT BEGINS TODAY! The last day of February 2018. I’m going to take the advice I get from this first post, make a decision, and act on it. You’ll see my journey from idea to serving a thankful and happy market. I’ve got too many ideas, too many doubts, and too much or too little of something else. Let me know what that is when you see it. Thanks.

Sorry for the length. I thank those of you who do read and comment. I need a kick in the teeth, the a$$...you choose. And if you’re thinking about steali...uhum...using any of the ideas below, hit me up for a partnership, licensing agreement, investment offer, you know—something—first.

Have you ever vacillated because you have too many ideas? This is my current quandary and since I’m not getting any younger, I need wisdom from those of you who have broken past the mental barriers I have yet to subdue. You’ll see those barriers shortly. Have no fear. ;)

After coming up with business ideas for the past few weeks (some of these go way back) after having just recently read TMF and Unscripted and also having had an initial burst of excitement, as you do when you read cool biz books, I’ve talked myself out of just about everything. What’s my reason?

~~ I don’t have the personal level of skill to take on any of the list items below (see TL;DR below). I don’t have enough background to start a business doing X even though I’m 48 and believe I should. Wah! ~~

So I’ve gone back to consuming videos, books, etc., for the last few days. Vomit.

I know that I just need to start DOING / EXECUTING / BEING IN PROCESS, but I don’t want to waste my time doing something that I won’t commit to because of a shit belief, i.e., I shouldn’t be doing this—who am I to be doing this?

Here’s my selfish desire (yes, I’m going to talk about me for a minute, before I get to the market(s) I’m thinking about serving):

Ideally, I want to take 5 years to free up my time, offering something of real value to real people, get free, and then start thinking about what’s next. I’d like to shoot for a 10MM exit event on July 19, 2023 when I turn 53. Ugh. I don’t expect to retire sipping whatever the F*ck I would sip at that time. I expect that I would want to do the next business. I just want the next 5 years to get me free first. FYI—I’d be happy to do it in ten years.

Why is that a bad goal? It’s the idea that I could get free in the next 5 years or so that got me excited when reading The Millionaire Fastlane and then Unscripted. I know I can’t chase money to get where I want, I just want to chase something that I believe I CAN build. I’m happy to provide real value. I just don’t know how I, THIS GUY, can do it, without, pausing for another 10 years to learn new skills / advance current skills first. F*ck!

At almost 50, I’m scared about opportunity cost. I don’t want to invest 6 months or a year on a business and feel like I should have known at the beginning that this wasn’t going to work for me. I’m asking for your insight. Those of you who have it.

So here is the list of ideas that I am pursuing after assessing my strengths and thinking about things that I might have some advantage in. (Note: I ramble on here before I get to the list) In other words, I’m not just picking a market out of thin air, much like @MJDeMarco didn’t pick his limo lead generation business out of thin air. His success came somewhat out of his past work experience. I don’t think this should be overlooked. Dan Norris created WPCurve out of his website design business as did MJ DeMarco, in part, as well. Gary Vee started Vayner Media out of his experience using social media to sell wine.

My experience has been more like MJ Demarco’s early journey, flitting around doing Amway and 5 other MLM things, among a series of pure jobs, except I still haven’t figured it out. He got his shit together in his mid-thirties. I’m almost 50.

I’ve bounced from telemarketing for Circuit City in my twenties to racking up over $350,000 in student debt (I know, right? FTE anyone?) because I thought I wanted to be a chiropractor and then shifted to multimedia, getting an MFA in Web Design and New Media, but I still haven’t designed my first “real” website or app. Sure I’ve done some shit HTML, CSS, Javascript stuff and I know quite a bit about those subjects, but in piece meal. I teach this stuff as a part-time adjunct professor (I teach because I can’t, haven’t, or won’t do. This needs to change). Teaching is an honorable profession, but it’s a job for me—a great job—I’ll grant you that, but as a part-timer without tenure, or as I believe, a chance at tenure, it’s very precarious. If enrollment goes to shit next semester, I could be homeless. And besides, I don’t want to teach at a college or university. I’d rather do it as an entrepreneur, but to do that I’d have to build up my skill a lot higher and I don’t feel that teaching on Udemy, etc. is a Fastlane opportunity. Now, starting a Udemy-type company has that kind of promise, but I’d need to find the value skew in that area. Maybe finding that value skew is what I should be looking for instead of writing this whiny-a$$ post.

Between Circuit City and now, I’ve sold 3 apartment buildings for Marcus & Millichap (an area that I’m considering getting back into, but now as an investor and educator--although, again, I only spent a year and half working there, so I’m not sure apartment investing is something I can teach without first owning 24 units), worked for a direct mail marketing company and a hundred other smaller things where I quit. I’ve taught now for the past 10 years. I’m a mediocre teacher, mostly because I feel a fraud. I don’t feel like I have the right to teach these kids multimedia because I believe I should come from years of experience in the industry. I just don’t have it. I’ve learned a lot through having to teach and I’m a better teacher for it, but to develop the skill that I need to feel like I should teach these kids, takes time, and this is part of my motivation to get free. If I were free in the next five years, I’d likely devote some of that time to perfecting skills. Why don’t I spend my off hours perfecting those skills now? I do. I’d just rather spend that time getting free by building a Fastlane business first. Again, it’s opportunity cost. When you’re my age, you start to see the end a bit more clearly. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m not exactly old yet, but at 48, I can see that I have no retirement and I absolutely loathe the idea of having to rely on my kids.

Now on to the list of businesses. I list them all as domain names (yes, I own them), because I’ll need a website at the very least:

TL;DR

Current List of Opportunities I’m Trying To Choose To Focus On (Monogamously)

  • VectorVictory.com

    • Inspired by Design Pickle which charges a flat fee for design services and hires a team of designers in the Philippines to do the design work. It’s a B2B subscription model where businesses pay $370 per month for unlimited design services. The one thing they explicitly state that they don’t do is complex illustrations or logos.

    • So the not-doing-of-the-complex-illustrations-or-logos is where I see the value skew. VectorVictory.com will design your vector illustration art including logos for a flat $500 per month, because a vector is worth a thousand pictures. I farm out the work to expert artists, not necessarily in the Philippines, and pay them $300 per month per client. They can take as many clients as they can reasonably serve. I’ll have to figure out what “reasonable” means in that regard.

    • Why is this a good fit for me? I know how to do vector art. I’m not good enough to do it for $500 per month, at least not fast. That being said, I have considered just taking on my first customer to see how it goes. Maybe I do it for free, although Dan Norris would frown on that. LOL. But it’s never going to scale unless I have other artists anyway.

    • Why is custom vector art worth $500 per month? Because clipart and most stock art is shit. Custom work is pricey, but a consistent paycheck for an artist is a good thing, so there may be an arbitrage in there. Vector art is scalable, as in you can make it as big or small as you want without losing resolution. Vectors simplify communication. Vectors form the basis of most user interface elements and explainer videos among many other things.

    • If you’re only paying $500 per month and could get an unlimited supply of icons, t-shirt designs, logos, UI elements, could you start a t-shirt empire, may unlimited apps with great design components? Could you build a strong private label business with great private labels? Yes you could. If I had $500 per month to pay a skilled vector artist, I’d be able to sell all kinds of shit that relies on good art. Maybe that’s what I should do instead of VectoryVictory.com. Haha!
  • AptOffers.com

    • As I stated above, I sold apartments in my early thirties for Marcus & Millichap. I sold 3 apartment buildings and made somewhere around $60,000 in commissions. I found an investor who became a kind of mentor and I tried to get him to sell me one of his properties near the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. I didn’t have the cash, so I thought he’d help me in a creative way. He just wouldn’t do it, which pissed me off and then I burned bridges. Bad move on my part. Anyway, in 2015, I almost put an apartment deal together with Michael Blank at TheMichaelBlank.com, but then it fell through. I think it fell through because I showed my pricing analysis to the dentist owner, and when he saw the valuation, I think he wanted to keep it. I showed my cards. Bad move. I became disenchanted and spooked and quit. I’m considering refocusing on that, getting back into Michael Blank’s group (you should check it out) and build an app to help me not show my hand, while communicating value to brokers, sellers, investors, etc. Then I can work on buying my first 24 unit apartment property (that’s my arbitrary goal) and sell the AptOffers.com web app as a tool.

    • What does the tool do?

      • The tool takes in all the data about an apartment property and spits out:

        • A one page investment proposal which will work to make the sale to the seller of the property and to potential investors

        • A multi-page pro-forma document with all the details including pictures for everyone who needs to dig in to the financials deeper.

        • An online / smart phone system which speeds up the negotiation process from

          • Non-disclosure agreement to

          • Letter of Intent to

          • Purchase Agreement to

          • Due Diligence checklist, etc.

          • Signatures are electronic and can be done on your phone. You’ll even have a saved signature.
        • It’s all specific to apartment investing and deals only with those problems. It builds credibility for you, the investor, because the templates are all professionally designed and worded. You look smart also, because the system forces you to get all the numbers together.

        • There’s more to be figured out, but that’s process.
  • LaunchShit.com

    • Okay, so I had this idea before I came to this forum, and since this idea would be direct competition to this forum, I’m a bit reluctant to go into it. Nevertheless...

    • Also, the idea was inspired by everyone being free these days with words like shit and F*ck, etc. All the best business books are doing it! LOL.

    • I read Dan Norris’ 7 Day Startup and thought the idea of launching in 7 days was a good idea.

    • Launcshit.com -- Give a shit. Get shit. DONE!

    • Launchshit.com is an online community where you get the help you need building your launch idea by giving to the community, not unlike the reputation dollars here, except you trade a type of cryptocurrency which is only valid on the site––Shit! You trade shit emojis like the one below.
      A3vWnIJhDdETyPGiTXXJoHLC8273lCokDJA86LYxGCPH6qMilgYjpdN3LW5Q-NysT_r2hpXXN1Sf_cro4b0o9XozPCWMBTADvKnZAm7Uh2JDO5Od84f8IK51T0-qoB_6fJrqUnab


    • You pay a monthly membership fee to turn off ads and you also GET SHIT! The shit is money. You can trade it back in for real dollars. So you can give shit to people—which is a good thing.

    • You want to get on the “shit list” because that means you’re giving more than others.

    • You give shit to others who help you.

    • You give shit to others who you want to support because you want to help them launch.

    • Giving and helping is the core idea, but within a specialized community of people who are trying to give innovation to the world. Who better to support right?

    • The person who gives the most shit in a given period is THE SHIT!

    • @MJDeMarco, if you like this idea, and you might just think it’s SHIT ;), I’d love to start this with you. 60 you / 40 me. :)
  • Sayve.me

    • I’m lazy. I want to talk to my phone as it sits next to me on my passenger seat as I’m driving to work because I got inspired to save another $5 toward my investment account.

    • Like Siri, you talk out loud saying “Save Me” and the app will listen, take the amount you give it, then ask for confirmation before putting that amount directly into the account you choose. The app could even ask which account or you could assign a default account.
  • FaceValue.store

    • An online store which using the Presidents of the United States as Caricatured Mascots. Each President represents a bill--$1, $2, $5, $10, Etc. In the store, you shop by face value amounts. Tax is included, so you check out with even amounts. There could also be a facevalue.store subscription box which ships surprise products to you based on the presidents you choose.

    • Gift wrapping is free for Grants and Benjamins, if you want it.
  • WFPbase.com

    • I switched to a whole food plant based diet about a year ago. I sometimes succeed at it.

    • WFPbase.com plays on the whole food plant “based” concept and is a store or service which maximizes your nutrition. It’s not about weight loss, although that would be a natural side effect. The problem with this idea is getting fresh veggies to people in way that bypasses the one organ in their body which doesn’t want them -- the tongue. So I think the tongue will be an anti-mascot, sort of a villain

    • I don’t want to go the meal in a box route. That’s being done.

    • I like Dr. Greger’s (Book: How Not To Die) Daily Dozen and Dr. Fuhrman’s (Book: Eat to Live) GBOMBS (greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, seeds)

      • Both of these lists of food you should eat form the “base” of what you should eat everyday.

      • I’d like WFPbase.com to help you cover your nutritional “bases.”
  • DrinkSteve.com

    • Stevia (a sugar free herb substitute) drink with a comedy angle. Brand a drink based on the top STEVE comedians in the world who are still alive :

    • “Drink Steve and Taste Funny”

  • Hygenie.club

    • A monthly subscription box for each part of your body that needs hygiene. The genie idea is just a brand, so I’d have a genie for a mascot and there’d be some gimick about how you get three wishes. Maybe you can choose three surprise items in your box(es) per month and the rest you get to choose on the website, since it seems that people may be tiring of the surprise angle.
  • Tabl.store

    • My son an I built some tables from lumber, and using a KREG jig, a drill, and a miter saw. We sold it for $450 after spending around $150 on the lumber. Of course this doesn’t include the equipment. We were then commissioned to build a kitchen nook set for another family. We sold that set for $850 after about $250 in lumber etc. So we actually made money!

    • Make these tables en masse and ship them all over the planet if possible.

    • Add a custom angle by using a CNC router and or a laser cutter and add custom/personalized typographic elements to the table top.

    • Make the table tops charging surfaces so when you place your devices on the table, they charge.

    • Include usb ports built into the table.
  • Stikits.club

    • Sticker | Patch | Button | Pin | Magnet | Card | Ticket Subscription Box

      • A printed ticket for a special exclusive event

        • Can be a coupon for something extra special

        • Some tickets are special, rare tickets. Like cruise tickets or Disneyland Tickets or Katy Perry Concert Tickets
      • This could be a side service of vectorvictory.com

      • Digital Stickers such as messenger stickers can be included as free app downloads.

      • Have businesses pay for the sticker designs in exchange for putting a “ticket” (a branding / advertisement moment for them) which is to a special event, that something people who like to buy stickers, patches, etc. would want to go to.

      • This is somewhat within my wheelhouse because I have some capacity at vector art design, so I could make my first set of 25 to 50 boxes myself and just give them away or sell them to get the ball rolling.
  • Good To Go

    • This is an alternative to or addition to WFPbase.com wherein this is a drive through fast food restaurant which serves up only whole food plant based cuisine, primarily the 4 esses -- Sandwiches, Soups, Salads, Stir-Frys.

    • This is a brick and mortar, drive-through-only concept based on health with convenience. Your health on demand.

    • I’d have iterate this across the country for scale.

    • I don’t have the startup cash for something like this, but I suppose I could try to get it. Any takers? ;)
There you have it. Ideas.

Ideas are shit. I agree with MJ that execution is everything. Go ahead, ream me a new one. I suppose you could say that I could pick any one of these, but I’d like to get some insight from savvy folks who might help me think differently. As you can see, I can ideate all day long. It’s the choosing and sticking with the choice that is hard for me. The risk I’m trying to mitigate is the threat of switching to one of these other ideas when the road gets hard.
 
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Dave Daily

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So I just read this post:

Sorry, But the Forum Can't Make Your Life Decisions For You!!

and I see that my thread here is asking the forum to make some decisions for me. I considered taking this long-a$$ post down, but I think I'll leave it up as part of the documentation of all of my fun mistakes. Still, any insight is welcome.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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and I see that my thread here is asking the forum to make some decisions for me.

Not at all. Your post is fine.

You aren't asking us if you should divorce your wife, drop out of college, or move to Thailand.

You posted some business ideas and want some feedback.

That's why we're here!
 

MJ DeMarco

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Holy shit, there are some really GOOD ideas in there.

I like most of them and you really thought them out well.

Good To Go

There's a restaurant here in Scottsdale that focuses on plant based, also some grass-fed stuff (paleo) and let me tell you, it is printing money. The place is always JAMMED.

Here's a link:

FRC - Flower Child - Healthy Food for a Happy World

I think healthy food (plant based / vegan / vegetarian) stuff is going to go big. Not a trend, a movement, kind of how milk sales have declined in the last 4 decades.
 
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RobD88

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Dude...wow! I'm just going to give you my opinions, take them for what they are worth to you. First, as you saw when you posted on my "never too old" thread...you are never too old to get started. Don't let your age worry or discourage you. I'm definitely not.

Some of your ideas are pretty damn good. I like the VectorVictory idea though I think the subscription price may be a little high and it looks like you're giving away too much of the money to your outsourced team.

The AptOffers idea seems legit too. I know there are already other tools like this out there because I almost got suckered into investing $50K into Than Merril's fortune builders real estate investing system because the technology they promote is pretty slick. I then did some research and found similar digital tools for a fraction of the price or even for free. But if you can build a better, more efficient mousetrap, go for it. Create value and you will receive value in return.

The table store is kind of cool too but I say that out of the enjoyment I get from doing similar projects and working with my hands. The scalability scares me. Shipping furniture isn't cheap so your product would need to be top quality, high end stuff. The personalization aspect is very intriguing though.

None of the rest really appealed to me. Of these three I like VectorVictory the best. There are so many people outsourcing this work on sites like Fivrr and Upwork that the market is pretty ripe. You just have to sell the value add you have (unlimited designs for a flat price) and build the brand. It also seems like the lowest start up cost and greatest possible reach.

Where I see you struggling the most is in confidence. You've been teaching and working in media for ten years. If that doesn't make you an expert I don't know what does. Quit beating yourself up and trust in your abilities. I can guarantee more than one of your students has used what you taught them to do some amazing stuff. That is a testament to your ability and all the affirmation you should need.

Quit with the analysis paralysis and just move forward with something with the idea that you deserve to reach your goals. The only thing holding you back is you.
 

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Here's what happened when I put four of the above business ideas into MJ's decision matrix:

View attachment 18302


Hugh, I applaud you for all the great things you're pursuing - and in all honesty... can I just say mannnnnnn, you are overflowing with ideas.. I wish I had half the brain processing power you've got. Now having said that, I have a confession to make. You lost me at around your 4th website... something about launching shit or something of the like?

Okay, you got me, I admit - I read that one, but if you cant hold my attention in a thread like that, how can you adequately provide the proper amount of attention towards a business when you're trying to get a single one off the ground? I feel like I have ADHD just from reading all the endeavors you're pursuing, and I'm not trying to say you're incapable of succeeding at them all, but I do feel like if you've learned anything from the books - it takes one then it snowballs from there.

If I were you, I'd set some of those sites aside, and just pick one or two that you're going to invest that insane amount of brainpower towards... BLOW THEM THE EFF UP! Then.... when you're ready to automate them, move on to the other ideas.

My $0.02.
 
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Dave Daily

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Holy sh*t, there are some really GOOD ideas in there.

I like most of them and you really thought them out well.



There's a restaurant here in Scottsdale that focuses on plant based, also some grass-fed stuff (paleo) and let me tell you, it is printing money. The place is always JAMMED.

Here's a link:

FRC - Flower Child - Healthy Food for a Happy World

I think healthy food (plant based / vegan / vegetarian) stuff is going to go big. Not a trend, a movement, kind of how milk sales have declined in the last 4 decades.

Thanks.

Interesting that you highlighted the only brick and mortar business in the list. I definitely agree that healthy eating is a movement. I did a second decision matrix analysis and put Good to Go against VectoryVictory (the winner from my last analysis) and this is what I got:

Screen Shot 2018-02-28 at 8.06.21 PM.png
Maybe your highlighting it skewed my thoughts on it, but it does have a lot of merit. The NEED / RELATIVE VALUE is there, the barrier to ENTRY is high, so high that it scares the shit out of me. Plus I have to consider that I'd be setting it up in my home town of Chico, California, population 100,000 or so and not in Phoenix. CONTROL is there. SCALE is there, but it's iterative and not easy like an internet biz. TIME is tricky because lots of fast-food systems would have to be put in place, so that would take a while to get TIME out of the way.
 

Dave Daily

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@RobD88 Thanks so much Rob. I appreciate your insight. I've done a couple of analyses with the decision matrix tool and it seems to agree with you about VectorVictory.com. There is already a company doing design for $370 per month—Design Pickle, so the differentiator I'm offering is not design but vector art and logo design, the things Design Pickle explicitly said they wouldn't do. That's why I'm putting a higher price on it, because it will be more difficult. But, I really don't know what the market will pay until it's put in front of it.

Design Pickle appears to train and pay designers in the Philippines. I'm under the impression, perhaps erroneously that I'll need to hire much higher end vector artists and they ain't cheap, so you may be right about $300 per month being too high, but again, I'd have to take it to market to find out.

Your thoughts on aptoffer.com were really helpful. I haven't scoured the market enough, but I'm sure, as you say, that there are a number of excellent tools like the one I'm conceiving of, and truthfully, the idea doesn't move me as much as some of the others.

Thanks for the confidence boost. I hear what you're saying. I probably am undervaluing my skills some, but I'm just pretty honest about where I fit in the continuum of skills in my area. I'm good enough to know that I'm not good enough personally to do what would need to be done for VectorVictory.com. The truth is though that I only need to art direct. That I can do. As long as I can convince a bevy of skilled, starving artists to produce the custom work, it'll work.
 

Dave Daily

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Hugh, I applaud you for all the great things you're pursuing - and in all honesty... can I just say mannnnnnn, you are overflowing with ideas.. I wish I had half the brain processing power you've got. Now having said that, I have a confession to make. You lost me at around your 4th website... something about launching sh*t or something of the like?

Okay, you got me, I admit - I read that one, but if you cant hold my attention in a thread like that, how can you adequately provide the proper amount of attention towards a business when you're trying to get a single one off the ground? I feel like I have ADHD just from reading all the endeavors you're pursuing, and I'm not trying to say you're incapable of succeeding at them all, but I do feel like if you've learned anything from the books - it takes one then it snowballs from there.

If I were you, I'd set some of those sites aside, and just pick one or two that you're going to invest that insane amount of brainpower towards... BLOW THEM THE EFF UP! Then.... when you're ready to automate them, move on to the other ideas.

My $0.02.

Thanks. I am trying to narrow it down to one and only one. I like all of these ideas, and don't freak out, but there are more that I won't put up here. LOL. My challenge is exactly as you say, I need to get one idea, make a commitment to it and push it through to its end. As of now, from the feedback I've gotten so far, I'm trying to decide between VectorVictory.com and Good to Go. Good to Go has a massive entry barrier and VectorVictory has almost none, so that may be the deciding factor. I'm hoping to get some more opinions over the next couple of days before I pin it down. Thanks for you honest thoughts.
 
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Well Hugh - all I can say is you must have more than one brain, and they're all working overtime. Great List. You may be starting a little late, but you are starting with a bang. Going the speed you are capable of, you will have no trouble catching up in the race.

I wish I had a friend like you to hang out with. We could conquer the world. I'll definitely be keeping in touch with you. I'd also appreciate your opinions on my ventures, but that's for another day...

You didn't come here for a love fest, right? You want feedback that you can face head on, right? I'm not going to lie to you. Although there are things I do like a lot, I'll give you the nitty gritty. Or, maybe just the gritty. Here goes.

Here's what I DON'T like about some of your ideas:

Drink Steve. Totally stupid. Who cares? Waste of time. Take this one behind the barn and shoot it. The concept might be cute as a theme for a night club, but that's all it has going for it.

Launch Shit. I would hire you for this one. Love it. What I would like would be package deals. Option one - a website - fixed price. Option two, mirror and link the website with Facebook - fixed price. Option three - an e-commerce site linked in - fixed price. Option four - email marking, sales funnel, drip campaign marketing set up and deployed - fixed price. Put together a fixed price menu. If you price everything as a fee based on-going service, you could lose your shirt. For one, I'd probably run you ragged by myself. Don't get into bottomless pits.

Table Store. Great idea, but do you really want a job? You should be building a scalable business that you can step OUT of eventually. This is way too time consuming and too dead end for too little money.

Vector Victory. Great idea. Could be another bottomless pit though. A few big clients could have you working your arse off for pennies. I would also hire you for this, but on a piece meal basis. I don't need unending designs, but I might need 20 or 30. Some other customers might run you to death with 300 or more. This venture could morph into a tsunami that overwhelms you. Be careful what you wish for!

Apartment Offers. Great idea. Too limited. Do this for ANY type of real estate. Why limit yourself? I do something very similar to this myself. I use software that is free to do it. I also have software that is dirt cheap that is more polished - it's about $150. I have to upgrade my paid software to a new computer os, and might not even do it because the free version does such a good job.

Face Value. Already done. Dollar stores. Or amazon. You have to have content, not a gimmicky price. This one has no steam to move forward, and it sure won't survive long against the mammoth competition out there.

All in all, I see your business models being too open ended so that you may be swallowed up by them, or too time intensive so that you may be shackled to them for a pittance in pay.

However - - - your brain is on steroids. I'm sure that if you see things from my point of view, you can run through them in your mind and rework the concepts. You are flippin brilliant.

You remind me of a favorite movie character - Rocky Balboa. Once Rock threw off his self imposed shackles of doubt and uncertainty, he became everyone's hero. The only one standing in his way all along was himself. If anyone can be successful, I assure you that it's you.

Keep in touch with me. I don't want to be the friend you go to so you get a pat on your back. I want to be the friend you trust because I will tell you what you need to hear!
 
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Dave Daily

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@Real Deal Denver Thanks for the honesty my friend AND the love fest. :) An ego boost now and again doesn't hurt. Definitely hit me up to look at your ideas.

You liked launchshit.com, although I don't think I communicated the concept well enough for you. It's an online forum like this one, only using shit emojis to buy services from other forum members. Think of fiverr only the service providers are other entrepreneurs.

You also gave a thumbs up to VectorVictory.com, but I wouldn't be the one doing the direct-to-client work. I mean, I might be at first, but I would be working to quickly transition to getting other vector artists to do it. My main job would be to broker relations between artists and clients. I'd handle quality assurance and billing, which could eventually be automated. I'm leaning more to toward this idea, although my main concern is getting the pricing right. I suppose trial and error would work for this. I do have design pickle's successful $370 per month amount to rely on.
 
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I just noticed in the text of your post you say you are Dave. Your avatar says Hugh.

All right - what the hell is going on here? I'll just call you Al. (Remember the Paul Simon song?)

Haha! Yeah, I'm Dave, but you can call me Al. LOL. Hugh Nivers (Universe—Get it? ;) ) is my pseudonym when I get around to writing my novel after I get my Fastlane business where I want it to go.
 

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You liked launchshit.com, although I don't think I communicated the concept well enough for you. It's an online forum like this one, only using sh*t emojis to buy services from other forum members. Think of fiverr only the service providers are other entrepreneurs.

Hmmm. Well that radically changes this idea.

It's like this forum, but exposing your ideas in detail for development ideas and help from other members?

Wouldn't do it. Never.

Isn't that how Mark Zuckerberg got started? They wanted him to build the architecture for Facebook, and he liked the ideal and ran with it? I'm going on memory from the movie...

I don't want to be the next one feeding someone my idea only to have them develop it - withOUT me.
 

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Wow. You have huge energy. Focus it and I expect to be hearing a sh*itload more from you in the near future. Good luck Hugh.
 
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ButGregSaid

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Haha! Yeah, I'm Dave, but you can call me Al. LOL. Hugh Nivers (Universe—Get it? ;) ) is my pseudonym when I get around to writing my novel after I get my Fastlane business where I want it to go.
I see what you did there.... ;)
 

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Hmmm. Well that radically changes this idea.

It's like this forum, but exposing your ideas in detail for development ideas and help from other members?

Wouldn't do it. Never.

Isn't that how Mark Zuckerberg got started? They wanted him to build the architecture for Facebook, and he liked the ideal and ran with it? I'm going on memory from the movie...

I don't want to be the next one feeding someone my idea only to have them develop it - withOUT me.

Yep, you remember well, that's what the movie says making sure the two twins look like two huge **** :)
At least they are bitcoin billionaires as far as i know lol
 

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Thanks.

Interesting that you highlighted the only brick and mortar business in the list. I definitely agree that healthy eating is a movement. I did a second decision matrix analysis and put Good to Go against VectoryVictory (the winner from my last analysis) and this is what I got:

View attachment 18304
Maybe your highlighting it skewed my thoughts on it, but it does have a lot of merit. The NEED / RELATIVE VALUE is there, the barrier to ENTRY is high, so high that it scares the sh*t out of me. Plus I have to consider that I'd be setting it up in my home town of Chico, California, population 100,000 or so and not in Phoenix. CONTROL is there. SCALE is there, but it's iterative and not easy like an internet biz. TIME is tricky because lots of fast-food systems would have to be put in place, so that would take a while to get TIME out of the way.
Man I really like you.
 
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Holy sh*t, there are some really GOOD ideas in there.

I like most of them and you really thought them out well.



There's a restaurant here in Scottsdale that focuses on plant based, also some grass-fed stuff (paleo) and let me tell you, it is printing money. The place is always JAMMED.

Here's a link:

FRC - Flower Child - Healthy Food for a Happy World

I think healthy food (plant based / vegan / vegetarian) stuff is going to go big. Not a trend, a movement, kind of how milk sales have declined in the last 4 decades.

Hey MJ,

I know you highlighted the Good to Go idea, but if you have a moment to vote in the poll at the top, I'd be grateful. It's March, so it's time to march. I'm going to get the results of the poll and make my move. Thx.
 
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SteveO

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Asking me to vote on ideas is like asking Paul Simon about business. GOLD! - One Trick Pony

Paul must be a recurring theme here.

I understand real estate. Apartments, NNN commercial, and golf courses. Nothing else...
 

Dave Daily

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Asking me to vote on ideas is like asking Paul Simon about business. GOLD! - One Trick Pony

Paul must be a recurring theme here.

I understand real estate. Apartments, NNN commercial, and golf courses. Nothing else...

Haha! Real Estate is one of the ones I'm considering. I sold apartments in Denton Texas for almost two years. If I choose to do AptOffer.com first (in the list of businesses in the poll), the goal is to start looking for apartment properties to flip, buy with JV partnership with owner, go in with investors. The creation of the app is to help me make the deals and more importantly, help other investors do the same. That way, I'll help the investment community, build cred for myself, while having a complementary business.
 
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Haha! Real Estate is one of the ones I'm considering. I sold apartments in Denton Texas for almost two years. If I choose to do AptOffer.com first (in the list of businesses in the poll), the goal is to start looking for apartment properties to flip, buy with JV partnership with owner, go in with investors. The creation of the app is to help me make the deals and more importantly, help other investors do the same. That way, I'll help the investment community, build cred for myself, while having a complementary business.
I like this idea but feel like we are in the wrong environment to execute. Too many buyers drive up the prices. Especially on the "value add" or flippable properties.
 

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I voted for Tabl.store.

I'd change the domain name to something else though. It seems that most people don't understand complex domain extensions like .store.

Reason I voted for Tabl:

You already have proof of concept.

My son an I built some tables from lumber, and using a KREG jig, a drill, and a miter saw. We sold it for $450 after spending around $150 on the lumber. Of course this doesn’t include the equipment. We were then commissioned to build a kitchen nook set for another family. We sold that set for $850 after about $250 in lumber etc. So we actually made money!

You made $450 revenue on $150.
You made $850 revenue on $250.

Labor costs weren't included, but not important. You can shift from a labor business to stocking inventory. Let me explain after examining concerns.

Table Store. Great idea, but do you really want a job? You should be building a scalable business that you can step OUT of eventually. This is way too time consuming and too dead end for too little money.

If you're selling tables at $850 a unit, and can average $600 profit, then you don't need a crazy number of sales to make it a sellable business. Getting to 1,000 units sold per year is highly doable. That's a $600k annual business. Easy sale.

To start it'll be a job, but eventually it'll be easy to outsource most components:

  • Switch manufacturing of the base components/packaging to overseas. That way you cut production costs and labor costs.
  • Only do the custom engraved table tops in the US. Then all you have to do is make the table top and put it in the box. 15 minutes of work at scale.

The table store is kind of cool too but I say that out of the enjoyment I get from doing similar projects and working with my hands. The scalability scares me. Shipping furniture isn't cheap so your product would need to be top quality, high end stuff. The personalization aspect is very intriguing though.
  • For shipping you'll need good freight partners that will do LCL shipments at a cheap rate. I've been quoted $400 to get a pallet from Chicago to Atlanta. Worked the price down to $100 for the pallet. Logistics will be a tough problem to figure out, but another huge barrier to entry.

Table idea is evergreen. Seems like no competition. Highly valuable (if customized). Easily scalable if you set the supply chain up correctly: Make the base models overseas --> Engrave table top at home --> Package tabletop and ship. It's also nice to get into because you can start by doing the labor yourself and after you scale a bit, outsource the production (both overseas and domestically). $20 an hour and you have labor lining up to engrave and package for you. Once you hit that point it's just marketing/scaling.

Good luck.

Also keep in mind that this forum is biased to virtual businesses and against "getting your hands dirty". There's an inherent bias so take that account into the feedback you're being given.
 

Real Deal Denver

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If you're selling tables at $850 a unit, and can average $600 profit, then you don't need a crazy number of sales to make it a sellable business. Getting to 1,000 units sold per year is highly doable. That's a $600k annual business. Easy sale.

Well, this analysis changes everything. Now it looks damn good!

However, I'm having a hard time seeing 1,000 sales. I love to go to auctions, and dinette sets are so often not sold at any price. Everyone has one. Bedroom sets go for super low prices usually because the demand is so low, as well.

I certainly admit that I know nothing about the demand that might be throughout the entire country for tables. Maybe 1,000 is an easy number. I can't get my head around it though. It's a massive jump from 2 to 1,000.

That's what I love about this forum. It's very enlightening in so many different areas.
 
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Awesome @AgainstAllOdds , Thanks a lot for that insight. I'm interested to know if physical products is your strength.

This is great insight and you've given me a lot to think about. This is my most recent endeavor and it's a great opportunity to get my son involved as well. What if he could have an early exit and take the rest of his life to build something of his own?

I voted for Tabl.store.

I'd change the domain name to something else though. It seems that most people don't understand complex domain extensions like .store.

Okay. What about toptabl.com? I'd like to keep it short.

If you're selling tables at $850 a unit, and can average $600 profit, then you don't need a crazy number of sales to make it a sellable business. Getting to 1,000 units sold per year is highly doable. That's a $600k annual business. Easy sale.

The $850 sale was for a table, and l-bench, and a straight bench, so a bit more work, but I'd like to streamline this to tables only. Nevertheless, with the custom tops, we may be able to get the profitability to between $400 and $500. That's still plenty to work with.


To start it'll be a job, but eventually it'll be easy to outsource most components:

  • Switch manufacturing of the base components/packaging to overseas. That way you cut production costs and labor costs.
  • Only do the custom engraved table tops in the US. Then all you have to do is make the table top and put it in the box. 15 minutes of work at scale.
  • For shipping you'll need good freight partners that will do LCL shipments at a cheap rate. I've been quoted $400 to get a pallet from Chicago to Atlanta. Worked the price down to $100 for the pallet. Logistics will be a tough problem to figure out, but another huge barrier to entry.
This is great stuff here. Any insights as to where you might start looking for overseas manufacturing of the base? I suppose it's just some google searching and looking for social proof of reliability, but I'd love to know if anyone has any experience with this.

There will be quite a few logistics to solve here like matching the stains, since we plan to offer several choices.

And as you say, getting the shipping to a reasonable price will be the key factor. Any advice on the shipping logistics would be great.

Table idea is evergreen. Seems like no competition. Highly valuable (if customized). Easily scalable if you set the supply chain up correctly: Make the base models overseas --> Engrave table top at home --> Package tabletop and ship. It's also nice to get into because you can start by doing the labor yourself and after you scale a bit, outsource the production (both overseas and domestically). $20 an hour and you have labor lining up to engrave and package for you. Once you hit that point it's just marketing/scaling.

There is some competition, but if we keep our offerings to a small range of custom choices, such as two bases, 3 lengths and 100% customizable tops, we'd be able to streamline things pretty quickly. Just make great quality tables with limited options and we could be the In and Out of Tables. ;)

Also keep in mind that this forum is biased to virtual businesses and against "getting your hands dirty". There's an inherent bias so take that account into the feedback you're being given.

I see that. I'll keep it in mind.

Off all of the businesses I listed above, this is the only one that I can say I could create a sale for with a week or two without question. VectorVictory.com is my second choice for ease of startup, but I believe it would take several months to get a client who would be willing to pay between $300 to $500 per month. I'd need to build some credibility first. It wouldn't sell itself right out of the gate.

Thanks again,

Dave
 

Dave Daily

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Well, this analysis changes everything. Now it looks damn good!

However, I'm having a hard time seeing 1,000 sales. I love to go to auctions, and dinette sets are so often not sold at any price. Everyone has one. Bedroom sets go for super low prices usually because the demand is so low, as well.

I certainly admit that I know nothing about the demand that might be throughout the entire country for tables. Maybe 1,000 is an easy number. I can't get my head around it though. It's a massive jump from 2 to 1,000.

That's what I love about this forum. It's very enlightening in so many different areas.

Yeah, it will take a while to get up to 1000. That's 20 tables per week. We'd need to have some systems in place, but I think we could get there within a year, i.e. getting to 20 sales per week by the 53rd week.

I remember the couple that came to buy the table from us for $450. They didn't blink an eye. And we had a lot of other people interested. I was really surprised by the demand. Then we got the custom job for a kitchen nook. The table was really small, only 3 feet long with two benches—one L bench and one straight bench. Here's a pic that the customer took the night after we delivered it to her house:

table.jpg
I'd like to keep it to just tables, rather than lots of custom jobs.
 

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