Previous attempts to switch to the Fastlane but still in the slowlane - my plan moving forward...

[endotron]

Hello everyone!

Very happy to be joining the forums and having discovered this place - I've read many good stories that are truly inspiring, so thank you.

A bit about me:

I grew up in an entrepreneurial family who made a decent exit with their business in the Netherlands selling trade-show displays in the 80s. My parents moved us to Canada to start new - they didn't find the same success again, as they tried repeating their business model but the market was completely different and they couldn't get traction, but they kept on being entrepreneurs and never went back to the slowlane .

With that upbringing I've always had the bug but haven't been able to "stick it" yet when making the switch to the fastlane, but reading this book I know why.

I have made a few attempts in my adult life to switch to the fastlane but with the wrong types of businesses, and I was clueless to the
CENTS business commandments.

Attempt 1: Bought a carpet cleaning franchise - realized it was a dead end and sold it (for a small loss) - this was the perfect example of starting a business for the sake of owning a business, I had not done proper market research and didn't see the handcuffs I would be in when starting a franchise in this sector, I was sold by the master franchise and I didn't ask enough questions about the structure.

Attempt 2: Started a retail business, heavily under-funded, and it was even advised against by our mentor as well as my own family - yet my business partner and still went ahead. It lasted about 5 years before we had to close the doors. This is another example of doing something because we thought it was "cool" and wanted to business owners as we had just both graduated from a marketing/sales program at college. We didn't do proper market research, if we had we would've realized how retail is not scalable with the small amount of startup capital we had. I ended up going back to the slowlane to get a job to try and support the store and hired staff, obviously this was not ideal and the writing was on the wall.

My previous attempts taught me a lot, so I'll never regret them. I don't look at them or call them failures since they taught me more than my diploma in sales and marketing ever did.

I decided to follow a passion of mine which is programming software. I took the path less travelled and started a career without a university degree and I'm completely self taught. Currently I contract my programming skills out alongside a full-time job as a senior developer. I can't really scale this unless I start an agency and begin to hire other devs, and devs are hard to find plus they're expensive. However it taught me how to start and run an incorporation which has been eye opening. I know this isn't going to be what's going to get me in the fastlane either as I'm still trading my time for money.

Here I am with a valuable skillset to build sites/web-apps. During my career as a software developer I realized that I'm making others rich and that I have the skill to do this for myself with the right idea. After reading this book it has motivated me to start collaborating with my network/friends and formulate an idea. Among a small group of us we have some very focused knowledge of an certain industry which we hope to leverage into a web app. We're currently identifying the need for this in the marketplace and assessing if there is competition if any, and identifying an exit plan.

I'll be careful to evaluate the business idea with the CENTS framework this time around.

​

 

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[savefox]

Can you elaborate on the carpet cleaning business? I'm doing it now and it's been going pretty well

 

[endotron]

Can you elaborate on the carpet cleaning business? I'm doing it now and it's been going pretty well

I had a Chem-Dry franchise, and although the product was a great differentiator compared to steam cleaning, the franchisees would have to fight each other for business. When flipping through the yellow pages you'd see a number of different chem-dry franchises and unsure which one to call - it was a confusing experience. Our biggest competitor was a steam cleaning franchise and they took an entire page out in the Yellow Pages with a 1-800 number to call, easy and simple.

I asked our master franchise to do the same and they declined the idea stating it would upset too many of the existing franchise owners so we had to continue scrapping it out with each other. So if you got in early in the area, then great you have your customer base made up of repeat customers and you can continue to grow through word of mouth and other marketing, but for new comers entering a saturated market it was a tough go with a confusing experience for potential new customers. I tried attending networking events and going after commercial contracts, which garnished a few low paying commercial contracts, but not enough to pay the bills. I paid a salesperson to try and cold call, which gave me some success but in the end wasn't worth the investment.

This was over 20 years ago and now I see that they've re-structured it to where there is a single toll free number you can call to get your carpets cleaned. Of course, once you get a client you would give them your direct number and hopefully keep them as a client.

 

[endotron]

I had a Chem-Dry franchise, and although the product was a great differentiator compared to steam cleaning, the franchisees would have to fight each other for business. When flipping through the yellow pages you'd see a number of different chem-dry franchises and unsure which one to call - it was a confusing experience. Our biggest competitor was a steam cleaning franchise and they took an entire page out in the Yellow Pages with a 1-800 number to call, easy and simple.

I asked our master franchise to do the same and they declined the idea stating it would upset too many of the existing franchise owners so we had to continue scrapping it out with each other. So if you got in early in the area, then great you have your customer base made up of repeat customers and you can continue to grow through word of mouth and other marketing, but for new comers entering a saturated market it was a tough go with a confusing experience for potential new customers. I tried attending networking events and going after commercial contracts, which garnished a few low paying commercial contracts, but not enough to pay the bills. I paid a salesperson to try and cold call, which gave me some success but in the end wasn't worth the investment.

This was over 20 years ago and now I see that they've re-structured it to where there is a single toll free number you can call to get your carpets cleaned. Of course, once you get a client you would give them your direct number and hopefully keep them as a client.

Oops didn't mean to reply to my own post. Trying to figure out how I can delete this.

 

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[WeeksOutstanding]

Hello everyone!

Very happy to be joining the forums and having discovered this place - I've read many good stories that are truly inspiring, so thank you.

A bit about me:

I grew up in an entrepreneurial family who made a decent exit with their business in the Netherlands selling trade-show displays in the 80s. My parents moved us to Canada to start new - they didn't find the same success again, as they tried repeating their business model but the market was completely different and they couldn't get traction, but they kept on being entrepreneurs and never went back to the slowlane .

With that upbringing I've always had the bug but haven't been able to "stick it" yet when making the switch to the fastlane, but reading this book I know why.

I have made a few attempts in my adult life to switch to the fastlane but with the wrong types of businesses, and I was clueless to the
CENTS business commandments.

Attempt 1: Bought a carpet cleaning franchise - realized it was a dead end and sold it (for a small loss) - this was the perfect example of starting a business for the sake of owning a business, I had done no market research and didn't see the handcuffs I would be in when starting a franchise in this sector.

Attempt 2: Started a retail business, heavily under-funded, and it was even advised against by our mentor as well as my own family - yet my business partner and I still proceeded and it lasted about 5 years before we had to close the doors - another example of doing something because we thought it was "cool" and didn't do proper market research, if we had we would've realized how retail is not scalable with the small amount of startup capital we had. I ended up going back to the slowlane to get a job to try and support the store and hired staff, obviously not ideal and the writing was on the wall.

My previous attempts taught me a lot, so I'll never regret them. I don't look at them or call them failures since they taught me more than my diploma in sales and marketing ever did.

I decided to follow a passion of mine which is programming software. I took the path less travelled and started a career without a university degree and I'm completely self taught. Currently I contract my programming skills out alongside a full-time job as a senior developer. I can't really scale this unless I start an agency and begin to hire other devs, and devs are hard to find plus they're expensive. However it taught me how to start and run an incorporation which has been eye opening. I know this isn't going to be what's going to get me in the fastlane either as I'm still trading my time for money.

Here I am with a valuable skillset to build sites/web-apps. During my career as a software developer I realized that I'm making others rich and that I have the skill to do this for myself with the right idea. After reading this book it has motivated me to start collaborating with my network/friends and formulate an idea. Among a small group of us we have some very focused knowledge of an certain industry which we hope to leverage into a web app. We're currently identifying the need for this in the marketplace and assessing if there is competition if any, and identifying an exit plan.

I'll be careful to evaluate the business idea with the CENTS framework this time around.

​

Hi Endotron, cheers for the background. I'll be rooting for you, do keep us posted!

I was previously in a startup (predominantly as product manager and strategy) and also a self-taught programmer. Happy to have a chat and share my thoughts on your product if helpful

 

[endotron]

Hi Endotron, cheers for the background. I'll be rooting for you, do keep us posted!

I was previously in a startup (predominantly as product manager and strategy) and also a self-taught programmer. Happy to have a chat and share my thoughts on your product if helpful

Thanks, I'll keep everyone posted indeed and thanks for the offer.

 

[savefox]

I had a Chem-Dry franchise, and although the product was a great differentiator compared to steam cleaning, the franchisees would have to fight each other for business. When flipping through the yellow pages you'd see a number of different chem-dry franchises and unsure which one to call - it was a confusing experience. Our biggest competitor was a steam cleaning franchise and they took an entire page out in the Yellow Pages with a 1-800 number to call, easy and simple.

I asked our master franchise to do the same and they declined the idea stating it would upset too many of the existing franchise owners so we had to continue scrapping it out with each other. So if you got in early in the area, then great you have your customer base made up of repeat customers and you can continue to grow through word of mouth and other marketing, but for new comers entering a saturated market it was a tough go with a confusing experience for potential new customers. I tried attending networking events and going after commercial contracts, which garnished a few low paying commercial contracts, but not enough to pay the bills. I paid a salesperson to try and cold call, which gave me some success but in the end wasn't worth the investment.

This was over 20 years ago and now I see that they've re-structured it to where there is a single toll free number you can call to get your carpets cleaned. Of course, once you get a client you would give them your direct number and hopefully keep them as a client.

So the problem was a lack of control over your business and marketing. That's why you want to be a franchisor, not a franchisee. You definitely can Fastlane a home service business like that, even in a crowded market

 

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[Lyzmin]

Thank you for the background story! Loved reading it with my morning coffee.

I'm nog halve way in the Unscripted book, also a big one for your development.
Forget about money, let's become 'value chasers'

I'm following your thread for the updates, keep them coming!

 

[endotron]

Thank you for the background story! Loved reading it with my morning coffee.

I'm nog halve way in the Unscripted book, also a big one for your development.
Forget about money, let's become 'value chasers'

I'm following your thread for the updates, keep them coming!

Cheers, thanks Lyzim! I'll have to start that book next. Very excited about what is ahead, it looks like our timing might be great as we're seeing some other products with a bit of overlap hit the market very recently.

 

[endotron]

So the problem was a lack of control over your business and marketing. That's why you want to be a franchisor, not a franchisee. You definitely can Fastlane a home service business like that, even in a crowded market

Yea very limited control over marketing was a factor and I was also very young, in my early 20s, so my experience was limited.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you scale? Do you buy out other franchises? Also did you start doing the carpet cleaning yourself and then eventually hire people to do it for you?

When I was doing it myself, working long days hauling the machine around I didn't see the future in the work, I thought I had essentially bought myself a new job vs being a business owner.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Great intro, really appreciate that you’ve shared some of your missteps. Welcome aboard.

 

[savefox]

Yea very limited control over marketing was a factor and I was also very young, in my early 20s, so my experience was limited.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you scale? Do you buy out other franchises? Also did you start doing the carpet cleaning yourself and then eventually hire people to do it for you?

When I was doing it myself, working long days hauling the machine around I didn't see the future in the work, I thought I had essentially bought myself a new job vs being a business owner.

I started it just a few months ago so it's a one man operation right now, I'm also in my early 20s and it's my first biz. I've set up a nice website with an instant quote and booking system, GMB profile with some reviews, I'm running google ads, google local services ads, facebook, thumbtack ads and so on. I can easily make at least $500 per day working just 4-5 hours by myself. I'm still trading time for money, but going from $20 per hour to $150 an hour doesn't sound that bad to me. I will scale it by adding another crew when my schedule fills up and when I have enough revenue I'll get off the truck

 

[endotron]

I started it just a few months ago so it's a one man operation right now, I'm also in my early 20s and it's my first biz. I've set up a nice website with an instant quote and booking system, GMB profile with some reviews, I'm running google ads, google local services ads, facebook, thumbtack ads and so on. I can easily make at least $500 per day working just 4-5 hours by myself. I'm still trading time for money, but going from $20 per hour to $150 an hour doesn't sound that bad to me. I will scale it by adding another crew when my schedule fills up and when I have enough revenue I'll get off the truck

Very nice, sounds like you're doing a lot of things right already. I wasn't making that sort of hourly wage with my franchise, so that's great to hear.

 

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[endotron]

Great intro, really appreciate that you’ve shared some of your missteps. Welcome aboard.

Thanks MJ good to be here. I often find people look so negatively upon their missteps and call them failures. What I learned from each experience is more than school can ever teach me.

 

[Parks]

I see some value in your post. The process of becoming a self taught programmer, lots of people crave that on reddit.

 

[BlokeInProgress]

@endotron great intro and yes thanks for sharing your mis steps and your experiences from your past business attempts. I guess the shine of being called an entrepreneur is quite tempting that some of us jump in so fast without even assessing or doing due diligence. But the good thing probably is that, whatever you lost during those times are considered as your tuition fee to for life's learnings.

Take advantage of your high value skill and like you said, lets follow CENTS!

 

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