Just getting started

[Josephseal]

Greetings All,
I just purchased "The Millionaire Fastlane " and I'm a little pissed off to say the least, why you ask ? This is my first post, please bear with me.

A little background might suffice, at an early age, let's call it 10, I knew then that I had a larger than life vision of making money and making people happy , so my first gig was a lemonade stand, not just any lemonade stand, we were going to sell snacks, sandwiches and beer, that's right beer, we just moved to a new development and they were still building houses and I noticed the carpenters drank beer and ate sandwiches, what I saw was an opportuity and need, it never happened after a few hours we gave up,. Next up I sold seeds door to door and made some small change, then the winter months rolled in and I was about 12 , me and my friend went around singing Christmas carols and shoveled driveways, we did pretty well, but I spent it as fast as I made it, then came the mowing lawns , dog watching etc anything to make a buck, I thought I liked money, but what I really craved was freedom, financial freedom to do what I wanted and I was willing to pay the price. Fast forward to 15 years old, I took my first job at a restaurant as a dishwasher and had no problem trading time for money, I took the money and also borrowed some money and invested into a start-up aquarium service which fizzled out in months and left me holding the bag with the money I borrowed ( $1,000.00) a kings ransom at the time. As I continued to work as a dishwasher I got a job in another restaurant ( of course), it was the late 70's and working in restaurants then was a pirates life akin to living in the wild west, I was always a non-conformist and didn't want any part of the 9-5 grind , although I worked a lot of hours , I was proud to not be part of the "herd" and at 16 I decided to own my own restaurant someday and I worked my a$$ off learning everything I needed to know to realize my dream and I did at age 33, took a while but I did it and owned it for 14 years and left with less money than I started with and had to file bankruptcy, don't get me wrong, the food was good the legacy lives on, but it was a train to nowhere. Next, I opened to get another business that followed my passion for selling WW2 war memorabilia and did pretty good, but not sustainable. Then I had no income a wife ,house and five kids and my wife didn't have a job, I went to work for my father in commercial printing, I always had an interest in printing and I'm a great learner, within two years I was doing pretty good in sales making decent money and joying less hours , then his company folded, but I still had my clients, so I opened my own company and became a broker and topped out at $90K a year and then that dried up. I was feeling the foot of desperation on my throat and would do anything, I had to and after feeling the sting of failure of so many business ventures I decided to get a "real job" my wife had enough of me chasing the dream of freedom/ wealth and couldn't understand why I couldn't be like everyone else and get to safety with low risk , so I did. I took a job as a manager in a multi-unit restaurant company and now I'm an "Area Director" this took 7 years and I'm making $93k all in at age 57 about to turn 58 and very much part of the "Martrix" and hate it, I also feel limited like a caged lion playing it safe and feeling like to step out of safety could be disastrous, but the entrepreneurial spirit within me tugs at me all the time, I want freedom, financial freedom, time freedom, try to explain this to anyone and they say your crazy, you have a good job and security at age 57, why the hell would you jeopardize that, do you know how hard it is to find a job at age 57, your crazy, stay where you are and play it safe.
It may be safe, but this is about as good as it gets and I'm under the control of what I can't control, that sound like another train to nowhere. Thoughts ?


This isn't a rant, I don't rant, I'm stoic. I've read all the books ,money , self-motivation and realized that two things 1. education is a life process and 2 the people writing these books are selling carefully crafted snake oil and are making a shit load of money to anyone that will listen and people will pay like donkeys for anything that promises to deliver hope. I want off the train again , most people I know say be grateful for what you have and I am, great wife and kids, hit the lottery with my parents but freedom, especially financial freedom eludes me , financial freedom would provide the means and ways to live a better life with my family and creating great moments and not feel like a "free range slave"

 

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[Josephseal]

So, why does the book piss me off, because someone I believe ( MJ) has confirmed that feeling that I've always had at a young age, I'm living in the "Matrix" and I want out and don't give a shit that I'm 57, if I'm fortunate to live a long life I don't want to roll over and face regret of playing it safe, I don't need a crystal ball to see how this story ends if I stay on the same path. But I'm also little scared shitless of another whiff, the company I work for is growing, that's true, my boss told me will offer me company stock so when he sells I'll be financially set, what the hell is that, wait 10 more years and hope for the best another no control situation.
I feel like the forum members could add some insight because the people in my world are either part of the herd or I'm speaking Chinese.
So, that's the facts and I'm sticking to it.
BTW, I love the middle- class folks I just don't want to be one

Thanks for listening

 

[Kevin88660]

if he offer you stocks and make you a minority partner is that something you are willing to consider?

If it is growing I do not see why you need to wait for ten years to get it sold.

Bu the way which industry are you in?

 

[Josephseal]

Thanks for the reply, restaurant industry, we currently operate nine locations, soon to be 11. I'm responsible for about $15M soon to be $20M in sales. I think the partners/owners would sell today if they were made an offer that creates the right exit plan. The ten years was more about locking me up for the rest of my work life. His stock offerings was a handshake deal, while I'm grateful for the possible golden parachute, handshake deals are what they are.

 

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[Kevin88660]

Thanks for the reply, restaurant industry, we currently operate nine locations, soon to be 11. I'm responsible for about $15M soon to be $20M in sales. I think the partners/owners would sell today if they were made an offer that creates the right exit plan. The ten years was more about locking me up for the rest of my work life. His stock offerings was a handshake deal, while I'm grateful for the possible golden parachute, handshake deals are what they are.

Seems that you are a key person in the company. It perhaps is something you can used to bargain at least for share options.

Common shares might be good if the business is a cash cow. At least you get paid as an owner periodically.

Small businesses are not easy to sell. Speaking from mom’s experience before she retired she worked for a SME engineering forms. It was a cash cow but the business is only valuable as long as the CEO and senior management team remains. It is really a brand name based on the experience, CV and network of the team. The owner tried to sell it but couldn't. In the end the owner kind of encouraged and “forced” senior management to purchase the shares at a bargain as he claimed and turn it into a co-ownership. In the end it worked well as the dividends itself over the years were multiples times over the purchase price.