NEEDING ADVICE ON DECISION

[summerperez14]

So I’m stuck between 2 options.

Option 1.

• I got offered a job that correlates with the e-commerce business I’m working on building (Amazon FBA). The job requires basically what I do for my own business so I know how to do this job and could learn from it to apply to my business.
• Salary is pretty much the same
• It’s remote (I was looking for a remote position so I can work from anywhere)
• It’s something I’d enjoy
• Has benefits

Option 2.

so I train this wife of a very wealthy man and I told her idk if I’d be able to train her and after hearing that he offered me some amazing opportunities cause he really wants me to continue to train his wife. Here’s what he offered -

• 1: stay with the job I got offered but give me capital to invest in my AMazon business & pretty much just find time to train his wife.
• 2: become a full time trainer at that gym (same salary) BUT he would give me a share in his 20% ownership in the gym. On top of still investing in my Amazon business.

The issues are,-

• I don’t necessarily need an investor right now since it’s so early
• I wasn’t looking to be a full time trainer and I’d have to stay being a trainer for a 3 year commitment (pretty much sweat equity to keep that percentage I’d get )

Both are amazing opportunities I’m just stuck between which one I guess is best. I value mentorship and growth. My goal in life is financial freedom & building a successful e-commerce business.

 

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

[Raoul Duke]

Option 2

 

[starttoday123]

So I’m stuck between 2 options.

Option 1.

• I got offered a job that correlates with the e-commerce business I’m working on building (Amazon FBA). The job requires basically what I do for my own business so I know how to do this job and could learn from it to apply to my business.
• Salary is pretty much the same
• It’s remote (I was looking for a remote position so I can work from anywhere)
• It’s something I’d enjoy
• Has benefits

Option 2.

so I train this wife of a very wealthy man and I told her idk if I’d be able to train her and after hearing that he offered me some amazing opportunities cause he really wants me to continue to train his wife. Here’s what he offered -

• 1: stay with the job I got offered but give me capital to invest in my AMazon business & pretty much just find time to train his wife.
• 2: become a full time trainer at that gym (same salary) BUT he would give me a share in his 20% ownership in the gym. On top of still investing in my Amazon business.

The issues are,-

• I don’t necessarily need an investor right now since it’s so early
• I wasn’t looking to be a full time trainer and I’d have to stay being a trainer for a 3 year commitment (pretty much sweat equity to keep that percentage I’d get )

Both are amazing opportunities I’m just stuck between which one I guess is best. I value mentorship and growth. My goal in life is financial freedom & building a successful e-commerce business.

What's your gut feeling? I think our first gut instinct is usually right. That being said and without knowing all the details I'd be wary of someone waving money in hopes you do what they want you to do with your entire life especially if they haven't paid you yet. Are they enticing you with money because they want to help your future or they want their own convenience and feel they can manipulate people with money? If you take option 2 and they bail on you shortly after telling you they'll pay you all this money, would you regret not taking option 1? Get everything in writing as soon as possible too. Focus on your own fast lane plan. What will make you the happiest while you move your life forward? Make your decision and then put your focus back on your fast lane plan.

 

[Speed112]

What's the downside of Option 2? I don't see it...

You get a free investor and maintain an extra revenue stream and safety net. If it's too early to invest capital in the business so what? Invest it later.

Shares won't manifest into anything unless the business sells or dividends are paid. I probably wouldn't go with the full-time option when you've also got no strings attached/just keep doing what you're doing capital as an option.

Option 2 to me sounds like Option 1+

Sounds to me like the guy wants you to eventually take over the gym entirely. You can be his exit plan.

In any case... do what makes you happiest. If you hate the training side of things and it makes you miserable, go your own way. But otherwise I think it'd be a wasted opportunity not to keep the relationship going, even if it means working a few more hours a week.

 

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

[Davejemmolly]

Hmm.. continue to build a dime a dozen ecommerce play on a platform you don't own and can't control, versus a 20% stake (plus salary) in a business that makes money when you're not there.. did you even read any of the books this site is based on?

 

[Kevin88660]

So I’m stuck between 2 options.

Option 1.

• I got offered a job that correlates with the e-commerce business I’m working on building (Amazon FBA). The job requires basically what I do for my own business so I know how to do this job and could learn from it to apply to my business.
• Salary is pretty much the same
• It’s remote (I was looking for a remote position so I can work from anywhere)
• It’s something I’d enjoy
• Has benefits

Option 2.

so I train this wife of a very wealthy man and I told her idk if I’d be able to train her and after hearing that he offered me some amazing opportunities cause he really wants me to continue to train his wife. Here’s what he offered -

• 1: stay with the job I got offered but give me capital to invest in my AMazon business & pretty much just find time to train his wife.
• 2: become a full time trainer at that gym (same salary) BUT he would give me a share in his 20% ownership in the gym. On top of still investing in my Amazon business.

The issues are,-

• I don’t necessarily need an investor right now since it’s so early
• I wasn’t looking to be a full time trainer and I’d have to stay being a trainer for a 3 year commitment (pretty much sweat equity to keep that percentage I’d get )

Both are amazing opportunities I’m just stuck between which one I guess is best. I value mentorship and growth. My goal in life is financial freedom & building a successful e-commerce business.

Difficult choice.

i would be inclined to take 20 percent of the equity of a successful business versus a business that is not yet born.

More financial information is needed for analysis. How much the gym is making per year? Are you getting paid the profits annually for being a co-owner?

Do you see yourself “buying over the gym” in the future as a possibility. As I mentioned in another thread there are a lot of boomers looking for young people to take over their business as they have no successor.

 

[summerperez14]

What's the downside of Option 2? I don't see it...

You get a free investor and maintain an extra revenue stream and safety net. If it's too early to invest capital in the business so what? Invest it later.

Shares won't manifest into anything unless the business sells or dividends are paid. I probably wouldn't go with the full-time option when you've also got no strings attached/just keep doing what you're doing capital as an option.

Option 2 to me sounds like Option 1+

Sounds to me like the guy wants you to eventually take over the gym entirely. You can be his exit plan.

In any case... do what makes you happiest. If you hate the training side of things and it makes you miserable, go your own way. But otherwise I think it'd be a wasted opportunity not to keep the relationship going, even if it means working a few more hours a week.

The downside is the 3-year commitment to personal training when I have never done it like that before and do not know if I would enjoy it. The guy does not own the gym, he is a partner in it with the gym owner. The gym owner has been looking for a full-time women trainer that actually wants to grow in the business and not just work for the paycheck & I would be getting half the guys share in the 20% equity, by me committing 3 years of training is my "sweat equity" part. While also working on helping to grow the gym and brand. But I also know the phrase to focus on one thing and get good at it, which is where my Amazon business comes in.

So yes I get a salary and part ownership in the gym but I also have my Amazon business I want to grow too. So it is kinda like I would be working on both.

 

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

[summerperez14]

Hmm.. continue to build a dime a dozen ecommerce play on a platform you don't own and can't control, versus a 20% stake (plus salary) in a business that makes money when you're not there.. did you even read any of the books this site is based on?

What's the downside of Option 2? I don't see it...

You get a free investor and maintain an extra revenue stream and safety net. If it's too early to invest capital in the business so what? Invest it later.

Shares won't manifest into anything unless the business sells or dividends are paid. I probably wouldn't go with the full-time option when you've also got no strings attached/just keep doing what you're doing capital as an option.

Option 2 to me sounds like Option 1+

Sounds to me like the guy wants you to eventually take over the gym entirely. You can be his exit plan.

In any case... do what makes you happiest. If you hate the training side of things and it makes you miserable, go your own way. But otherwise I think it'd be a wasted opportunity not to keep the relationship going, even if it means working a few more hours a week.

The thing is the training part is only for a 3-year commitment, after that, I have my equity in perpetuity and can do whatever I want. It's the unknown if I would really like training for that long and having to stay doing that for 3 years. Worse comes to worst I leave within those 3 years and I don't retain my equity part.

 

[Speed112]

The thing is the training part is only for a 3-year commitment, after that, I have my equity in perpetuity and can do whatever I want. It's the unknown if I would really like training for that long and having to stay doing that for 3 years. Worse comes to worst I leave within those 3 years and I don't retain my equity part.

Ok so it sounds to me like fear of uncertainty...

3 years is a big commitment, but put it a bit in perspective. The majority of slowlane NPCs invest thousands of dollars of their own money and 4+ years of their life into a useless degree and impractical knowledge...

You have the option to get all that experience and emerge out of it with equity in a successful business, business partners on your side who want to support you, and the opportunity to scale to the moon.

...and you don't even have to commit!

You're uncertain about how things will go? Try it out. Work as a trainer for 3 months instead of 3 years, see if it's a good fit for you, in exchange for something that YOU're satisfied with. Keep your options open. Get that free cash investment for your Amazon business while you figure things out. Make the old man happy by helping his wife get and stay healthy, and you'll have way more clarity further down the line in which direction you want to commit.

The question is how can you create the most amount of value with the least amount of time?

We can't make the decision for you. We don't know anything about you as a person, your ability to make your own business into a success, the state of the gym business, etc.

Even if we did we couldn't.

But what I can do is give you more options that you can counter-offer with, and ideas to think for yourself.

The guy is willing to give you 10% in the business in exchange for your physical investment in it. Great!

It doesn't have to be all at once and over night.

Why don't you try negotiating an emission schedule where you test the waters first, then increase your commitment in exchange for 1% equity at a time? You're still incentivized to grow the business, and you can commit contractually ahead of time, but leave the door open to go to greener pastures without sacrificing all your equity.

33 months -> 3 months testing the waters -> 1% every 3 months after that.

I got the impression that you were already training the wife (or other people at least)...

If it's something you need to learn and it's distracting you from other opportunities, then things are different.

In any case, when things are unclear, I think the best way to move forward strategically is to keep as many options open, and then close them off favorably for you as you acquire more information.

In chess, for example, if you have a choice between moving a knight or a rook to a better position, you generally want to start with the knight first, because the rook has more squares available to it, and therefore you keep more options open.

It's the same in business from my experience.

 

[summerperez14]

Ok so it sounds to me like fear of uncertainty...

3 years is a big commitment, but put it a bit in perspective. The majority of slowlane NPCs invest thousands of dollars of their own money and 4+ years of their life into a useless degree and impractical knowledge...

You have the option to get all that experience and emerge out of it with equity in a successful business, business partners on your side who want to support you, and the opportunity to scale to the moon.

...and you don't even have to commit!

You're uncertain about how things will go? Try it out. Work as a trainer for 3 months instead of 3 years, see if it's a good fit for you, in exchange for something that YOU're satisfied with. Keep your options open. Get that free cash investment for your Amazon business while you figure things out. Make the old man happy by helping his wife get and stay healthy, and you'll have way more clarity further down the line in which direction you want to commit.

The question is how can you create the most amount of value with the least amount of time?

We can't make the decision for you. We don't know anything about you as a person, your ability to make your own business into a success, the state of the gym business, etc.

Even if we did we couldn't.

But what I can do is give you more options that you can counter-offer with, and ideas to think for yourself.

The guy is willing to give you 10% in the business in exchange for your physical investment in it. Great!

It doesn't have to be all at once and over night.

Why don't you try negotiating an emission schedule where you test the waters first, then increase your commitment in exchange for 1% equity at a time? You're still incentivized to grow the business, and you can commit contractually ahead of time, but leave the door open to go to greener pastures without sacrificing all your equity.

33 months -> 3 months testing the waters -> 1% every 3 months after that.

I got the impression that you were already training the wife (or other people at least)...

If it's something you need to learn and it's distracting you from other opportunities, then things are different.

In any case, when things are unclear, I think the best way to move forward strategically is to keep as many options open, and then close them off favorably for you as you acquire more information.

In chess, for example, if you have a choice between moving a knight or a rook to a better position, you generally want to start with the knight first, because the rook has more squares available to it, and therefore you keep more options open.

It's the same in business from my experience.

You make very good points in that perspective . & you’re right it is the fear of uncertainty that scares me. That’s the thing the 3 year commitment is how I retain the equity though forever. It counts as my “sweat equity”. But that is a good option what you said about the equity slowing increasing. & all the value from mentorship and learning new skills is huge.

 

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

[Davejemmolly]

Sweat equity as you call it, in this context is just another name for a vesting schedule.
You wouldn't give someone 20% of your business, and then they quit after 3 months, then you've still got someone owning 20% of your business while he's off doing something else, and you're still working there.

By making an employee vest their shares, its the employers way of keeping you around for the whole three year term.

Its the way the whole Silicon Valley world works.

But its 100% a gamble on your behalf.. you could invest 3 years in your life an own 20% of a mediocre gym business, if it doesn't fold in the mean time.

But that's also how the whole Start Up game works.. for every engineer who started early at Facebook and vested their shares and made millions, there are 1,000s who started at other companies that died, and their shares were worth nothing.

Like other poster have said above, we can't make the decision for you, as it depends on a massive variety of factors, including your age, risk tolerance, how good the gym is, how good it could be, what the chances are you can make it big in ecommerce etc.

I know what I'd do.. but its not my life!