IT guy saying hello and joining The Fastlane

[Lrd_Gaz]

Hi everyone,

I'm Gary, 35 from the UK and I've tried time and time again to create a business that will ultimately give me more free time. So far, unsuccessfully.

I've just finished reading 'The Millionaire Fastlane ' and the crazy part is how much it has resonated with me and how close the values MJ talks about mirror my own light bulb moments over many many years. MJ has a great way of putting them on paper so clearly.

I have always been unhappy working an IT day job. I've constantly looked for a way to forge my own path.

Here are some businesses I've tried (and failed) over the years (in no particular order):
- Affiliate marketing websites
- Travel
- Wearable Technology
- Fitness
- YouTuber ( Funnily enough I did have one video that went viral and now has over 1.2million views )
- YouTube coach
- Forex Trader
- Forex Coach
- Selling website development courses
- Online Marketing Agency
- Website Development Agency
- Wedding video editing
- Custom wedding website marketplace
- Online lottery website
- A subscription blog platform (users use my platform to create their blogs)
- Monthly subscription box business
- Gadget e-commerce store
- Vector art e-commerce store
- Personal portrait e-commerce store

This journey taught me many things, not just from a skillset perspective but also helped me understand what type of business might be best. It gave me a great sense of what doesn't work for me personally. I don't regret the time spent on these failed endeavours. I see it as my education.

Before reading Millionaire Fastlane I had already started my current business last November. I created a brand that sells only one product (but multiple variations) through my online website.

Below is my criteria which I told myself must be met before starting.

- Must be built around a brand, not just a product
- The brand must 'give back' and have a purpose (good for marketing as well as personal karma)
- Must be scalable
- Must be able to operate and scale with no/minimal employees
- Must be national (UK, but potentially international)
- Must not be a passion or current hobby
- Product must already exist and be somewhat popular with its audience
- My brand must have a valid and different USP
- Must be a premium product and priced accordingly
- Must solve some sort of problem
- Product must be of high quality

I feel many of my own perceptions of what makes a 'good' business, as outlined above, are closely aligned with what MJ speaks about. It just took me almost 10 years of failing when 9 hours of reading this book could give you a massive head start! - To be clear I'm not claiming to have it all figured out, far from it, It's just really exciting to see how my own perceptions were resonated by MJ in this book and gives me hope that I have gone about things the right way.

Additionally, I really enjoyed learning about how an exit from a business can lead to your freedom from an actionable perspective.

Can't wait to speak to everyone and learn more from the discussions in this forum.

Thanks,
Gary

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[hatedsalesrep]

What part of your processes do you think was broken from these businesses that led to their failure?

Was it getting the business started, acquiring new customers, fulfilling the orders or getting repeat business (post-purchase nurturing)?

I think it is very admirable that you are still on the path - F*ck yes! For all we know your next business could be a hit, and then wham, overnight success. (or so they'll think)

Cheers!

 

[Lrd_Gaz]

What part of your processes do you think was broken from these businesses that led to their failure?

Was it getting the business started, acquiring new customers, fulfilling the orders or getting repeat business (post-purchase nurturing)?

I think it is very admirable that you are still on the path - F*ck yes! For all we know your next business could be a hit, and then wham, overnight success. (or so they'll think)

Cheers!

I have a pretty well paying 6 figure slowlane job, so the amount of time I’ve spent on these has varied over the years. But thinking back some were just flashes in the pan. For example YouTube coach and Forex coach were short lived without being able to back it up with real data. Wasn’t going to fabricate that. I created the websites but closed these off pretty quickly.

Some fizzled out or I got demoralised trying to find customers. They were ideas that seemed so good in my head but when implemented I just couldn’t find the customers. Or I didn’t believe in the long term viability of the business getting to the level/size I wanted.

And others weren’t scalable in the way I wanted. Website development has a cap at the amount of hours you can work whereas I wanted a business that makes money without being tied to my time.

If it weren’t for my job I may have stuck some of these out longer. But when you’re already relatively comfortable it’s easy to just throw in the towel when things get tougher. I can create a professional looking website in a day, but finding customers is another story.

 

[DMass]

Hey Gary!

Nice to meet you, I’m a fellow Brit based in the North West of England.

Reading your intro post was a lot like reading my own story, I’ve tried multiple things since I was about 20 and have never found that one thing that works. I’ve since doubled down on a idea I’ve had in the last 6 months and it’s working better than anything else, I do see it being my ticket to freedom.

Just as you feel, all my previous adventures and attempts have really helped me focus and drive this business. There is loads of gold to be found in this Forum, it’s just taking your time and finding what is relevant to you and your journey.

I’m 35 and work in IT too, what is it that you do?

Dave

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Lrd_Gaz]

Hey Gary!

Nice to meet you, I’m a fellow Brit based in the North West of England.

Reading your intro post was a lot like reading my own story, I’ve tried multiple things since I was about 20 and have never found that one thing that works. I’ve since doubled down on a idea I’ve had in the last 6 months and it’s working better than anything else, I do see it being my ticket to freedom.

Just as you feel, all my previous adventures and attempts have really helped me focus and drive this business. There is loads of gold to be found in this Forum, it’s just taking your time and finding what is relevant to you and your journey.

I’m 35 and work in IT too, what is it that you do?

Dave

Hey Dave,

Nice to hear that I’m not alone! Also great to hear that you’ve had more success with your most recent endeavour. I think a lot has to be said for just knuckling down and tuning out the negative thoughts. As long as it meets the criteria that we’ve set out then just keep on keeping on.

I work on the delivery side more than the development side. Dev Ops, Agile, that sort of bag. Have been in the industry since coming out of Uni, and worked in multiple industries from retail to fin tech. It pays well, but I just cringe when thinking about doing this for the next 30 odd years. No thank you. - How about yourself?

The GOLD threads are just as labelled and you’re right, find one that’s relevant and it saves so much time on the learning curve.

Gary

 

[Andy Black]

And others weren’t scalable in the way I wanted. Website development has a cap at the amount of hours you can work whereas I wanted a business that makes money without being tied to my time.

I can create a professional looking website in a day, but finding customers is another story.

Business is simple: Help people. Get paid. Help more people. (Start. Sell. Scale.)

It's only complicated because we don't keep it simple.


It sounds like you can help people by creating professional looking websites.

So your next step could be to learn how to get paid (get clients).

Then your next step would be to figure out how to scale and help even more people (likely by divorcing your time from your money).

I think your criteria are you overcomplicating and overthinking things.

"Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don't have."

It's a trait of engineers and IT folks in particular (as you're trained to think of and solve problems before you launch).


PS: I was an IT guy from the UK when I was 35 too. I know how you think.

 

[Lrd_Gaz]

Business is simple: Help people. Get paid. Help more people. (Start. Sell. Scale.)

It's only complicated because we don't keep it simple.


It sounds like you can help people by creating professional looking websites.

So your next step could be to learn how to get paid (get clients).

Then your next step would be to figure out how to scale and help even more people (likely by divorcing your time from your money).

I think your criteria are you overcomplicating and overthinking things.

"Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don't have."

It's a trait of engineers and IT folks in particular (as you're trained to think of and solve problems before you launch).


PS: I was an IT guy from the UK when I was 35 too. I know how you think.

Thanks Andy,

I think the strict criteria was to not give myself any reason to give up on a new business idea. I simply listed the reasons I’d given up in the past and used that to define the type of business I thought was best.

Website development It’s something I’ve tried a couple of times now. The most recent attempt resulted in a couple websites for friends and family, and lots of cold calling and email outreach (not fun). Ultimately this concluded after getting in touch and meeting the founder of a London agency i’d previously interviewed for (didn’t get the job) for some advice. He said that to start you need a big client to help with funding, that was how he did it. And that he had a few friends who ‘sat in their bedrooms making websites for a few £hundred a pop’ and didn’t recommend it.

His negative spin demoralised me ultimately put an end to that attempt, rightly or wrongly. I then got a new higher paying job which put a plaster on my self esteem and satisfied me, for a while.

If I were to give it another go, I’m not sure what I’d do differently.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Thanks Andy,

I think the strict criteria was to not give myself any reason to give up on a new business idea. I simply listed the reasons I’d given up in the past and used that to define the type of business I thought was best.

Website development It’s something I’ve tried a couple of times now. The most recent attempt resulted in a couple websites for friends and family, and lots of cold calling and email outreach (not fun). Ultimately this concluded after getting in touch and meeting the founder of a London agency i’d previously interviewed for (didn’t get the job) for some advice. He said that to start you need a big client to help with funding, that was how he did it. And that he had a few friends who ‘sat in their bedrooms making websites for a few £hundred a pop’ and didn’t recommend it.

His negative spin demoralised me ultimately put an end to that attempt, rightly or wrongly. I then got a new higher paying job which put a plaster on my self esteem and satisfied me, for a while.

If I were to give it another go, I’m not sure what I’d do differently.

Go check out @Fox 's threads and program. Also, given you're IT, check out my Google Ads stuff. IT folks seem to get on well with Google Ads.

The Inbound/Sales braindump in my signature might help either way, as would the first dozen or so podcasts on www.letschatsales.com

 

[DMass]

I work on the delivery side more than the development side. Dev Ops, Agile, that sort of bag. Have been in the industry since coming out of Uni, and worked in multiple industries from retail to fin tech. It pays well, but I just cringe when thinking about doing this for the next 30 odd years. No thank you. - How about yourself?

The Dark Arts of Dev Op's Eh!

I work in Solution Engineering now, I've been on the Implementation Side of things but wanted to take something a little less work so I could focus on my own things.

 

[Andy Black]

I was in IT for 15 years, the last 10 years as a contract Production Oracle DBA.


I recall Almantas asking me what I did and how I got into my current business in this chat from a few years ago:

• AndyTalks with @Almantas about Making Plans and Making Progress

I also chatted about how some of my experience helps in my current business in this chat:

• Helping a systems analyst grow what he knows and build his high ground

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[who8myR1ce]

Hi Gary, nice to meet you.
I am from Germany and was thinking a lot about UK recently: Since you guys dropped out of EU there must be a lot of discuption in the markets and disruption always creates business opportunities.
In case you are interested inf finding them and building some ideas happy to exchange with you.
Cheers, Dennis

 

[UK_Mike]

If it weren’t for my job I may have stuck some of these out longer. But when you’re already relatively comfortable it’s easy to just throw in the towel when things get tougher.

I think that's a significant point. I recall when I was back in full time work (I also worked in IT, in the North West of England) we had a pretty successful vertical market application, which was a market leader albeit in a small market. We tried a couple of other things to broaden the business, but it was very easy to just give up on them (one more quickly than the other) when they were quiet because the overall business was making a profit.