ThomasTLM
Regular Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
I making this thread so I can update it throughout my journey.
Here we go.
3/22/2024
"FTE"
I was standing in the kitchen with my wife. We had just opened another envelope for yet another bill.
Ever since August 2023 when our son was born, we kept getting hit by bill after bill for the hospital and other treatments he had to go through. He was in the NICU for several days because his breathing was shallow and his heart wasn't as strong. He was very jaundiced and weak. Thankfully, our son did get better, and we were able to take him home nearly a week and a half after he was born.
But after several months of bills amounting to thousands - thousands more than we had saved - we were practically broke. I recall several times telling my wife that it reminded me of when we had just gotten married and I was still an intern at City Utilities in our hometown. I was being paid the intern's wage, but we were still able to make ends meet. We were able to buy groceries and pay the rent and power bills. My wife wanted to be stay at home, but in the early springtime of our marriage she still had to work. I wanted her to be home, too, and not have to endure working during the day, but that wasn't an option at the time. My pay was crap, and we needed the money.
Now, however, she can't work. With a baby boy at home needing taken care of, I need to be the breadwinner. I don't say this to complain. I always wanted to be the one to provide for my family. I loved the idea of coming home to my beautiful wife, who hasn't had to bear the burden of a job throughout the day, and a child who has been loved, taken care of and cherished all day.
We had just gotten another bill in the mail for a few thousand dollars. This wasn't the only bill we still needed to pay. However, I wasn't going to have the money for this bill until the end of the month. I could pay it, but it had to wait.
We have this bill and several other bills floating above our heads. At this point it seems like they exist just to stress us out. As of right now, money is only coming from one place: my job. When we got this bill, I hugged my wife because I was worried. How many more times are we going to get a bill and have to wait for the next paycheck to be able to pay it off?
This was my FTE. I'm no longer going to sit around wasting my time wishing I had money when I could instead use the brain God gave me to provide for my family.
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Ideas...
@Andy Black hates this word, and since reading a few threads on this forum, I now agree with him. So, I've been putting my ideas into play instead of sitting around thinking about them.
Also, I just recently started reading Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan. In this book, he gives very solid practical advice to move ideas into action.
I've mentioned before some ideas that a friend of mine and I have wanted to go for. These ideas mainly revolved around coding and/or web development. However, another friend of mine wanted to start a tobacco/cigar company.
I had initially shrugged off this idea, but then I got to thinking about it with regard to the CENTS commandments.
My initial idea for the business was this:
A cigar subscription service that delivers cigars based on the customer's taste. I thought of modeling this off of the way that Trade Coffee does their service where you take a personalized quiz, and you get a subscription based off your answers. The reason I thought this was because when I was initially asking around for advice on this business idea, someone told me that they had grouped coffee-lovers and cigar-lovers into the same category.
So my first step was to make a website and pay a gazillion dollars in ads on Google.
Just kidding.
My real first step was to make sure I would actually have customers at all. So I started asking people I knew or who were within my circle of influence if this is a service they might actually pay for. I talked to my brother, my friends, and some people I knew online. It was one person I knew from a discord server who mentioned the coffee-lovers/cigar-lovers category. I then asked if a monthly subscription of ~$40-$50 was a solid price for 5-6 cigars a month and he said he wouldn't go above that price.
I'm currently still waiting on answers from some people. However, the reason I think this business is good (based off of CENTS) is:
C - The business isn't reliant on only one cigar brand or company. It can source multiple cigar brands, and if one goes out of business it wouldn't kill my company. However, the only downside of a cigar business is excise taxes. If the US raises taxes for the distribution of tobacco, then it raises my margins.
E - Going back to the excise taxes, this means that the business wouldn't be super easy to start which means it gives me a good opportunity.
N - As far as I've seen, there isn't another service for cigars that is similar to Trade Coffee. This means that while the other cigar companies are doing the same old song and dance when it comes to cigar subscriptions, I have something that is new and innovative. I also know that people I've talked to are interested in paying money for this service.
T - Unfortunately, this business may violate the commandment of time a bit. The act of purchasing, packaging, and shipping cigars every month will take time and effort (which I'm willing to put in, of course), but automating that won't happen overnight. However, automation is still possible.
S - Because this service is a subscription people wouldn't be purchasing cigars from me once and then forgetting about me. Not only that, but since cigars are a consumable product, people will always come back to buy anyways. Additionally, according to this page here > Luxury Cigar Market Size & Share Report, 2022-2030 | The Brainy Insights , the market for cigars isn't shrinking, but growing.
One of my fears with this business, however, is that I feel I'll be riding a tricycle instead of a motorcycle. I feel it's a good idea, but I won't know for sure until I get my first $1 in profit. But even then, if I can't find a way to make a really good system with this service, then I will feel a lot like Usain Bolt on a kiddie bike.
PLEASE let me know your thoughts on this business.
Am I being a trifle naive?
Godspeed
Thomas
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4/1/2024
Well shucks, I'm already starting off on the wrong foot! Don't you hate it when you take step 5 before taking step 1? And of course I'm posting about what is basically my first mistake on April Fools Day lol.
I'm currently reading through Unscripted and The Great Rat Race Escape , and the other day I read the part in TGRRE about the 1/5/10 Planasy. I realized the other day that I have no clear/concrete and identifiable plan other than "Escape the Rat Race!" It's a good thing to want, but still a fantasy without a plan.
So I wrote out what I wanted in 10 years, my goals to accomplish 5 years from now for that to happen, what I need to have happen in 1 year to lay the groundwork, and my plan for the next month.
Then I calculated my escape number. Once I did that, something in me clicked. I realized something really important for myself, and it's something that M.J. mentions in TGRRE :
I accomplished something MOST PEOPLE never do.
For one thing, I actually viewed this simple action as an accomplishment. I didn't write it out and then think "Eh, it's a small thing." No, I was really quite tickled that I did it!
Secondly, most people never do this. What's another way of saying this? I pushed myself closer to the 1% and further away from the 99%.
Anything little thing that assists me in getting out of the rat maze is totally worth it.
Godspeed,
Thomas
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