My Fastlane Journey & $100,000/Month Sales 4 Months After Start-Up

[putinwork]

any update Zen Focus?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Update 5th April:
I somehow stumbled upon this article today which is also related to your questions on 2) - http://www.practicalecommerce.com/bl...mazon-and-eBay Hope that helps.

Recommended reading as it perfectly demonstrates the Commandment of Control and how ignoring it could lead to business peril.

 

[adiakritos]

Seems you've applied what Napoleon Hill talks about in "Think and Grow Rich"... you set it up so you have no other choice but to succeed.

This story has me really inspired.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[HD_edacity]

Really inspiring stuff, "started from the bottom now we here". Did i just quote a drake song? Yes.Yes i did.

Quick question, You mentioned how you began by accepting cash on delivery, I was just wondering how you set that up in a eCommerce store? Is there a specific plugin say for bigcommerce.

 

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[Zen Focus]

Seems you've applied what Napoleon Hill talks about in "Think and Grow Rich"... you set it up so you have no other choice but to succeed.

This story has me really inspired.

Thank you for sharing!

Dear Adria, I really didn't set it up. The only thing I've constantly reminded myself in doing is going all out, 100%, all the time, every time.

I'm not a very good planner. But I make sure in every second I make the best choice I could.

Spiritual masters often say it, you only have now or the present moment.

That's the only thing I focus on all the time. No time to put off something. Constantly making the best decisions in the moment, constantly.

 

[Zen Focus]

For the guys out there who have their aspirations set up so high, you'd need incredible abilities and capability to surmount them, give yourself one of the greatest gift in business education and get this book called: "Thick Face, Black Heart" by author Chin-Ning Chu.

Only action takers will benefit from it. Those who go out and get the book. Those who do, and practice its teachings will fill themselves with abilities that will for once make their dreams truly possible instead of just a blank dream. In a way, I feel that the book teaches what the billionaires and elites which people are jealous of do to be billionaires and elites which people are jealous of. Hope it helps.

 

[TK1]

just found the book for free on scribd:

Chin-Ning Chu - Thick Face Black Heart

For the guys out there who have their aspirations set up so high, you'd need incredible abilities and capability to surmount them, give yourself one of the greatest gift in business education and get this book called: "Thick Face, Black Heart" by author Chin-Ning Chu.

Only action takers will benefit from it. Those who go out and get the book. Those who do, and practice its teachings will fill themselves with abilities that will for once make their dreams truly possible instead of just a blank dream. In a way, I feel that the book teaches what the billionaires and elites which people are jealous of do to be billionaires and elites which people are jealous of. Hope it helps.

 

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[KirbyRaymund]

so Alibaba was the turning point?

i've known about it a long time but there was something about the site that made me feel uncomfortable. as silly as it sounds, i thought it was the layout. it looked disorganized and it made me doubt the credibility of the suppliers listed there. but now, i think i will give it a try. thanks for your story

 

[Tlcalis]

"Thick Face, Black Heart" by author Chin-Ning Chu.

Be sure to read her other book "Do Less, Achieve More" also a very awesome books, where she comes in on other topics or a lot more in dept of success, happiness, money, dreams etc.

 

[adiakritos]

Bought it on amazon. Thanks for the share of that book. I love Sun Tzu and any type of philosophy similar to it. "The Art of War" is a good read for contemplation. I noticed that a lot of the things in it relate to many aspects of life. Not necessarily the war strategy part but the parts about "knowing yourself, your terrain, and your opponent"

 

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[Zen Focus]

so Alibaba was the turning point?

i've known about it a long time but there was something about the site that made me feel uncomfortable. as silly as it sounds, i thought it was the layout. it looked disorganized and it made me doubt the credibility of the suppliers listed there. but now, i think i will give it a try. thanks for your story

Kirby, being an entrepreneur will challenge you on how well you take on the feelings of being uncomfortable. If it is comfortable being an entrepreneur, no one would ever work as an employee. Although it's good that you'll try, do consider to decide that you'll persist.

 

[Zen Focus]

Bought it on amazon. Thanks for the share of that book. I love Sun Tzu and any type of philosophy similar to it. "The Art of War" is a good read for contemplation. I noticed that a lot of the things in it relate to many aspects of life. Not necessarily the war strategy part but the parts about "knowing yourself, your terrain, and your opponent"

Yes, I feel the same too.

 

[leonbenj]

Thank you for sharing! Im the same age but just recently discovered about the fastlane-type mentality. Great to have an example of someone the same age!
Keep up the consistent 100% involvement! Very motivating!
Cheers

 

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[Phillipbro]

Good Read OP,
Do you still only ship locally or worldwide now? I'm assuming you probably have a somewhat decent rank on worldwide rankings for your keywords.

I'm also doing ecommerce and believe me, we are having a hard time finding trustworthy and reliable manufacturers.

We've also gone directly to importing rather than dropshipping as you have!

Very inspirational!

 

[thesearch]

I'm going to say what others have already said but that was a truly inspirational story.

In my opinion you have one of the most important traits of an entrepreneur - Keep going and persevere after "failure". Never quit.

Its from the "failure" we learn and like Thomas Edison said before he succeeded to make the lightbulb : "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work".

I put the word failure in quotes, because if you look at it from Thomes Edison's point of view, its not even considered failing.

I wish you great success on your business and I'm sure you'll have it. Must be an awesome feeling knowing that you have the leverage and control to make it grow exponentially. That's where I want to be.

Thanks for sharing your story with us

 

[Zen Focus]

I'm going to say what others have already said but that was a truly inspirational story.

In my opinion you have one of the most important traits of an entrepreneur - Keep going and persevere after "failure". Never quit.

Its from the "failure" we learn and like Thomas Edison said before he succeeded to make the lightbulb : "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work".

I put the word failure in quotes, because if you look at it from Thomes Edison's point of view, its not even considered failing.

I wish you great success on your business and I'm sure you'll have it. Must be an awesome feeling knowing that you have the leverage and control to make it grow exponentially. That's where I want to be.

Thanks for sharing your story with us

You pointed out something that's extremely right. Many self-help coaches say you aren't supposed to focus on negatives. But in business, real world business and not in the self-development industry, reality can be more harsh than anything.

So the key wasn't to think positive, but to always focus on the dream. The goal. What you believe in. Great entrepreneurs take what's real within themselves and project it fully out into the world, instead of shifting away from who they are. By projecting out without a doubt of who they are and what they believe in, their definitions for words become different - when others think of failure negatively, they might think of failure as another frickin annoyance or to some even excitement to destroy or win over again and again. Through my failures, I realized in business one who doesn't take into account the possibilities of failures is extremely naive.

I don't mean that in a bad way. Being able to fully LIVE, as the best self that one is while fully accepting the reality of this world is something that's hard to explain in words. When you have the bad times, you overcome it intelligently your way. When you have the good times, you know what got you there and what you've sacrificed to be where you are today.

 

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[thesearch]

You pointed out something that's extremely right. Many self-help coaches say you aren't supposed to focus on negatives. But in business, real world business and not in the self-development industry, reality can be more harsh than anything.

So the key wasn't to think positive, but to always focus on the dream. The goal. What you believe in. Great entrepreneurs take what's real within themselves and project it fully out into the world, instead of shifting away from who they are. By projecting out without a doubt of who they are and what they believe in, their definitions for words become different - when others think of failure negatively, they might think of failure as another frickin annoyance or to some even excitement to destroy or win over again and again. Through my failures, I realized in business one who doesn't take into account the possibilities of failures is extremely naive.

I don't mean that in a bad way. Being able to fully LIVE, as the best self that one is while fully accepting the reality of this world is something that's hard to explain in words. When you have the bad times, you overcome it intelligently your way. When you have the good times, you know what got you there and what you've sacrificed to be where you are today.

Many self-help coaches try to make everything look so easy. Like "make millions easily", "be the most confident person in 3 days", "think positive and things will go your way"...

We are supposed to learn from our mistakes. Like MJ says on TMF , we have to take responsibility and accountability for our mistakes.

Also, we have to be prepared to face "failure" but is up to us to try to develop strategies of planing and weighing options etc. so we can minimize those "failures".

You pointed out something that I think is also one of the most important things: Focus on your goals. Never lose sight of them.

In my opinion, the right mindset is really really important for having a successful business.

I like this subject of mindsets a lot but if I continue to write on it, we will go to off-topicville eheh

Cheers!

 

[putinwork]

Any update on how sales are going? Still going strong? Any new things you have learned since your last update?

How were you able to get the word out for people to come to you e-commerce site if you're not using amazon/ebay?

 

[21elnegocio]

Holy cow man this just boosted my motivation off the roof. I will will execute my plan in a month at the latest, I first need educate myself into what im getting. One question though, are you doing dropshipping or are you an ecommerce store ? thank you ! Great motivation mate

 

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[Zen Focus]

Sales continued to break the record from the month before. We're hoping this month could do the same, as the past month's record is rather tough to break. With the average daily sales however it can be possible. We're starting to realize that the market online for our industry may be reaching its plateau for now - industry's still new, search counts may further increase, but we're saving up for a brick-and-mortar retail as it'd leverage our money the best for growth. Customers in our industry appreciate taking the time to experience a store, ask questions and etc. so we thought that will be the next step. Looking at our biggest competitor who is raking big money from their shop (and beating us despite not being on even the 1st page of Google - though they certainly had a much longer history in business than us), I guess we'll have to bring this to the next level. Create a brick-and-mortar brand too, and be the #1 at it slowly, but surely. By providing the best value - focus on design, atmosphere, theme, quality service.

 

[Zen Focus]

Holy cow man this just boosted my motivation off the roof. I will will execute my plan in a month at the latest, I first need educate myself into what im getting. One question though, are you doing dropshipping or are you an ecommerce store ? thank you ! Great motivation mate

As mentioned 21, I had been failing with dropshipping throughout the years. You're competing with giants at low margins when you dropship. If business is easy, everyone would be doing it. I succeeded in this venture with importing.

 

[limitup]

Can you give us an idea of how many different products you stock and sell?

 

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[Zen Focus]

Can you give us an idea of how many different products you stock and sell?

Now over 100+. Initially started with only a few that we know are definitely going to sell, then slowly expand varieties.

 

[Zen Focus]

Great post Zen! I'm curious as to why you are having problems with customs? You mentioned having to "bribe" them...

Mod note - link removed

Part of business to reduce costs that many start-ups in my industry wouldn't be able to afford if followed through from the beginning. Thanks for giving reference to Chin-Ning Chu's "Thick Face, Black Heart". A book I keep placed on my desk every day. I do recommend everyone here to get a printed copy whenever possible.

 

[limitup]

Wow so you're actually stocking 100+ products in your warehouse? I assume the 80/20 rule applies here right? ... 80% of your profits probably come from just 10-20 of the products?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

For anyone interested here is a download link to the pdf Zen

PLEASE DO NOT post pirated copies of an author's work. You might not think it is THEFT, but it is.

Thank you.

 

[johnp]

PLEASE DO NOT post pirated copies of an author's work. You might not think it is THEFT, but it is.

Thank you.

I agree and to add - the author can lose a lot. 4 years ago I made 30k off my Ebook in 2 months then lost what could have been another 30k as a result of a pirated copy of my Ebook going viral in my niche because one person didn't want to pay and posted the pirated version on the forums.

 

[Zen Focus]

Wow so you're actually stocking 100+ products in your warehouse? I assume the 80/20 rule applies here right? ... 80% of your profits probably come from just 10-20 of the products?

I would say more likely 60%-70% of the products we have contributed to 80% of the profits. Our products are driven by trend, so we usually buy a month's stock. Based on how they perform, we buy more within a month or reduce quantities, some just kept in stock just so that they can still be shown as available.

 

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[Zen Focus]

I agree and to add - the author can lose a lot. 4 years ago I made 30k off my Ebook in 2 months then lost what could have been another 30k as a result of a pirated copy of my Ebook going viral in my niche because one person didn't want to pay and posted the pirated version on the forums.

It is true. Whenever possible potential entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, buy the original. It's a sign of support to their authors, especially if they have contributed value to you. Like going to the cinemas and paying for a movie, something I'm happy doing 2-3 times a week.

 

[21elnegocio]

Now over 100+. Initially started with only a few that we know are definitely going to sell, then slowly expand varieties.

Im kind of falling trouble finding a product that will sell, I do know where to sell them, but I just cant decide on what to sell.