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Rule of CONTROL? Almost impossible to achieve! Here's why...

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Frankie Relax

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I guess most of us on this forum read TMF and thus know the 5 golden rules (or commandments) of Fastlane. The famous "CENTS".


Among them, the most difficult to achieve is control. Here's why.


I see it almost everywhere on this forum and on almost every other entrepreneurship post, podcast or video. People built a business and claim to have the full control of it, while actually they don't.


In my humble opinion, there are many problems I would like to show on this thread which cause a lack of control.



1. Money Management

This is the most crucial problem that brings to a lack of control. Most people receive their business money on bank or e-wallet (usually paypal) account.
They still don't understand that if their money is on a bank account, or on Paypal, or on Neteller, or on Skrill or on any other similar platform they have a very little control of "their" money. Basically bankers own and manage it.


Bankers can control and manage account holders money in different ways.

It could be a bail in or a hidden tax; a raised fee or a withdrawal limit; etc.

Banks could also fail and your money disappear.


So, if you want to control your money, you should never use banks! There's no doubt about it.

Thus, which are the methods to control your money?


Well, I see only 3 ways:

  • Using Cash Money
  • Using Cryptocoins
  • Owning a bank

If you rely on a third-party service, you can't control your money. Or, at least, to have the full control of it. Bankers (or paypal, etc.) have.

As a side note, controlling your money is the only way to pay the amount of taxes you wanna pay and not the one government decide.

I'm not trying to make a political post.
I'm a strong pacifist, but maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe it's good to finance wars all around the world and have thousands of military bases (and a HUGE amount of tax money is used for these reasons).
But, I say it again, this is not a political post. This is all about fastlane and control.

If you really have the full control of your money you should decide the amount of taxes to donate and maybe even the purpose of your donation.




2. Platform

Most people here (including me) published or self-published books. Many of us self-publishers claim to have the full control of our business. Indeed we rather rely on the platforms which host our books.

For example, I published more than 10 books and throw all of them on e-stores like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, El Corte Inglés, and so on... The control I have on such platforms is basically 0. They can change their algorithms and this could affect the SEO of my books; they could even hide my books from searches for reason I won't even never know.

Another example.
Let's suppose you code android apps and sell them on google play. What is the control you have on google play?

Zero.
The same I have for the websites which host my books.

Thus, if we really want the control of such business we need to control the platforms too.



3. Websites

This is another misconception of control.

Most people who have a website truly believe to have the full control on it, while it's not true.
So who has the control of it?

Mainly the hosting platform (and sometimes governments too).


Let me add you another example from my real life experience.

Some years ago I started a blog about agriculture. I think the articles were pretty good, I posted on a regular basis and started to get hundreds of visitors per day. So I put some banners and short links on my blog, in order to monetize a little bit.


What happened next?

The hosting platform (a cheap Malaysian hosting provider) began to do at least one maintenance per week. So my blog went offline very often. Sometimes even 8 hours per day! This is every week!

The traffic to my blog dropped and so my revenues.


What have I learnt from it?
That if you really want to control your own website, you have to own the hosting platform as well. There's no other way.

Also there are many other ways a bad hosting provider can hurt your business, for example they can remove a utility (for example cpanel) or they could have weak security systems and give access to hackers. A hosting platform could even suspend your account, often with weak reasons.



These are the 3 main reasons because I think control is almost impossible to get.

I also thought about possible businesses in which, instead, we could achieve a full control.
Here is a short list of them:

- Owning a bank
- Owning a domain/hosting provider (and use the proper money management system)
- Be a dictator
- Own google/apple
- Create a cryptocoin and let other people invest in your ICO
- Mine cryptocoins
- Sell stuff on your platform (and use the proper money management system)
- Grow crops and sell them for cash

 
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MidwestLandlord

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You're missing the point of "control" me thinks.

I can switch banks.
I can buy assets that reduce the risks of holding cash.
I can switch card processors.
I can switch platforms.
I can open new websites.
I can hire different employees.
I can sell different products.
I can switch industries.
I can open new businesses.
I can...
I can...
I can...

That's control.

Not being able to do any of that as an employee = no control.
 

MJ DeMarco

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My guess you posted this to be a "gotcha" thread...

Look, MJ is wrong! You can't have total control!

It's really sad when people read a book, they don't read it as the author intended, as a fluid piece of work written in the gray area of life and business, but they read it with "black and white" blinders on, usually for the sole purpose of feeling intellectually superior by catching the author in some type of conundrum or contradiction.

Sorry, but this was NOT how CONTROL was written, or how it was to be interpreted.

Clearly, you're thinking about CONTROL too literally in order to justify your point through extreme macroeconomic events.

If the monetary system collapsed, does any of us really have control? If earth was hit with an asteroid, does anyone of us really have control? Are you really FREE? Like FREE to stop paying your taxes and roam the world unfettered?

Sorry, but the CONTROL in CENTS was NOT meant to be taken to this extreme.
 
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Frankie Relax

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My guess you posted this to be a "gotcha" thread...

Look, MJ is wrong! You can't have total control!

It's really sad when people read a book, they don't read it as the author intended, as a fluid piece of work written in the gray area of life and business, but they read it with "black and white" blinders on, usually for the sole purpose of feeling intellectually superior by catching the author in some type of conundrum or contradiction.

Sorry, but this was NOT how CONTROL was written, or how it was to be interpreted.

Clearly, you're thinking about CONTROL too literally in order to justify your point through extreme macroeconomic events.

If the monetary system collapsed, does any of us really have control? If earth was hit with an asteroid, does anyone of us really have control? Are you really FREE? Like FREE to stop paying your taxes and roam the world unfettered?

Sorry, but the CONTROL in CENTS was NOT meant to be taken to this extreme.


I'm sorry you think I wrote this post to criticize you or state you're not right. My true intention was clearly not that, believe me.

And of course I absolutely don't think to be superior than you. TMF is the best book I've ever read (and I read 1000s of books!) and one of the few which are worth the money I (or my parents, in case of school books) spent.
I never wrote a so meaningful book so far :blush:

Hoping I clarified it, I would like to say that I think mine wasn't a so extreme post. Actually, I pointed out some usual situations of entrepreneurs all over the world, adding examples based on my own experience. Really nothing so extreme liek asteroids or similar.

Also, I haven't said you can not have total control. Instead, at the end of my post, I said there are ways to get a full control of your business. 100% of control.
 

Millenial_Kid5K1

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- Grow crops and sell them for cash
LOL! You're not at the mercy of the weather, the government's subsidy programs and other incentives, property tax variations, changing food preferences, and distribution networks or anything!

Seriously though, nobody is completely in control of everything. Stop being pedantic, Try to minimize your risk:reward ratio, and move forward.
 

MJ DeMarco

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I'm sorry you think I wrote this post to criticize you or state you're not right. My true intention was clearly not that, believe me.

And of course I absolutely don't think to be superior than you. TMF is the best book I've ever read (and I read 1000s of books!) and one of the few which are worth the money I (or my parents, in case of school books) spent.

I appreciate that. I really do. And just to note, you are not inferior (or superior) to anyone. We're all on the same train.

My bone in this is you've taken something and made it a rigid absolute.

Also, I haven't said you can not have total control. Instead, at the end of my post, I said there are ways to get a full control of your business. 100% of control.

Do you own a business?

And here's a hypothetical question for you...

If Amazon refused to sell JK Rowling's next Potter novel, would she have lost control?
 
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Frankie Relax

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And here's a hypothetical question for you...

If Amazon refused to sell JK Rowling's next Potter novel, would she have lost control?


Well, I think she is now so famous and "big" that even if Amazon refuses to sell her books, she would sell them in many other ways.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Well, I think she is now so famous and "big" that even if Amazon refuses to sell her books, she would sell them in many other ways.

So, does she have control?
 

The-J

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I've read the book several times and nowhere did MJ say that you need 100% control over anything.

In fact, I took it to mean 'don't have a single point of failure'.

Do banking with multiple companies. Don't rely on a single lead or customer source for too long. Don't rely on a single type of software to manage everything in a function. Back up all your data on multiple devices. Don't invest all your spare cash in a single company or fund. Don't rely on a single freelancer to do every function in a job. Don't rely on a single manufacturer.

Not only that, you CANNOT start out with control. You gain control as it becomes more and more pertinent. You may be doing 100% on Amazon in year 1, but in year 2 you might be doin 70% Amazon and 30% your own site. You might start off with one bank account, but grow to 3 bank accounts. You might have a single manufacturer, but then grow to 5 manufacturers.

OP's got it all out of whack.
 

Millenial_Kid5K1

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I've read the book several times and nowhere did MJ say that you need 100% control over anything.

In fact, I took it to mean 'don't have a single point of failure'.

Do banking with multiple companies. Don't rely on a single lead or customer source for too long. Don't rely on a single type of software to manage everything in a function. Back up all your data on multiple devices. Don't invest all your spare cash in a single company or fund. Don't rely on a single freelancer to do every function in a job. Don't rely on a single manufacturer.

Not only that, you CANNOT start out with control. You gain control as it becomes more and more pertinent. You may be doing 100% on Amazon in year 1, but in year 2 you might be doin 70% Amazon and 30% your own site. You might start off with one bank account, but grow to 3 bank accounts. You might have a single manufacturer, but then grow to 5 manufacturers.

OP's got it all out of whack.
That makes a lot of sense. In fact, I think that's a brilliant way of putting it. Rep transferred.
 

Frankie Relax

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I've read the book several times and nowhere did MJ say that you need 100% control over anything.

In fact, I took it to mean 'don't have a single point of failure'.

Do banking with multiple companies. Don't rely on a single lead or customer source for too long. Don't rely on a single type of software to manage everything in a function. Back up all your data on multiple devices. Don't invest all your spare cash in a single company or fund. Don't rely on a single freelancer to do every function in a job. Don't rely on a single manufacturer.

Not only that, you CANNOT start out with control. You gain control as it becomes more and more pertinent. You may be doing 100% on Amazon in year 1, but in year 2 you might be doin 70% Amazon and 30% your own site. You might start off with one bank account, but grow to 3 bank accounts. You might have a single manufacturer, but then grow to 5 manufacturers.

OP's got it all out of whack.

Thank you for your post!

This is what I want to achieve, the most of control and not 'a single point of failure'. To say it in other words, to rely on my own infrastructures, my own platforms as much as I can.
 
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Hicks

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I guess most of us on this forum read TMF and thus know the 5 golden rules (or commandments) of Fastlane. The famous "CENTS".


Among them, the most difficult to achieve is control. Here's why.


I see it almost everywhere on this forum and on almost every other entrepreneurship post, podcast or video. People built a business and claim to have the full control of it, while actually they don't.


In my humble opinion, there are many problems I would like to show on this thread which cause a lack of control.



1. Money Management

This is the most crucial problem that brings to a lack of control. Most people receive their business money on bank or e-wallet (usually paypal) account.
They still don't understand that if their money is on a bank account, or on Paypal, or on Neteller, or on Skrill or on any other similar platform they have a very little control of "their" money. Basically bankers own and manage it.


Bankers can control and manage account holders money in different ways.

It could be a bail in or a hidden tax; a raised fee or a withdrawal limit; etc.

Banks could also fail and your money disappear.


So, if you want to control your money, you should never use banks! There's no doubt about it.

Thus, which are the methods to control your money?


Well, I see only 3 ways:

  • Using Cash Money
  • Using Cryptocoins
  • Owning a bank

If you rely on a third-party service, you can't control your money. Or, at least, to have the full control of it. Bankers (or paypal, etc.) have.

As a side note, controlling your money is the only way to pay the amount of taxes you wanna pay and not the one government decide.

I'm not trying to make a political post.
I'm a strong pacifist, but maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe it's good to finance wars all around the world and have thousands of military bases (and a HUGE amount of tax money is used for these reasons).
But, I say it again, this is not a political post. This is all about fastlane and control.

If you really have the full control of your money you should decide the amount of taxes to donate and maybe even the purpose of your donation.




2. Platform

Most people here (including me) published or self-published books. Many of us self-publishers claim to have the full control of our business. Indeed we rather rely on the platforms which host our books.

For example, I published more than 10 books and throw all of them on e-stores like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, El Corte Inglés, and so on... The control I have on such platforms is basically 0. They can change their algorithms and this could affect the SEO of my books; they could even hide my books from searches for reason I won't even never know.

Another example.
Let's suppose you code android apps and sell them on google play. What is the control you have on google play?

Zero.
The same I have for the websites which host my books.

Thus, if we really want the control of such business we need to control the platforms too.



3. Websites

This is another misconception of control.

Most people who have a website truly believe to have the full control on it, while it's not true.
So who has the control of it?

Mainly the hosting platform (and sometimes governments too).


Let me add you another example from my real life experience.

Some years ago I started a blog about agriculture. I think the articles were pretty good, I posted on a regular basis and started to get hundreds of visitors per day. So I put some banners and short links on my blog, in order to monetize a little bit.


What happened next?

The hosting platform (a cheap Malaysian hosting provider) began to do at least one maintenance per week. So my blog went offline very often. Sometimes even 8 hours per day! This is every week!

The traffic to my blog dropped and so my revenues.


What have I learnt from it?
That if you really want to control your own website, you have to own the hosting platform as well. There's no other way.

Also there are many other ways a bad hosting provider can hurt your business, for example they can remove a utility (for example cpanel) or they could have weak security systems and give access to hackers. A hosting platform could even suspend your account, often with weak reasons.



These are the 3 main reasons because I think control is almost impossible to get.

I also thought about possible businesses in which, instead, we could achieve a full control.
Here is a short list of them:

- Owning a bank
- Owning a domain/hosting provider (and use the proper money management system)
- Be a dictator
- Own google/apple
- Create a cryptocoin and let other people invest in your ICO
- Mine cryptocoins
- Sell stuff on your platform (and use the proper money management system)
- Grow crops and sell them for cash

Totally off topic but how did you self publish on el corte ingles? Was it through street lit? Very interested in how you did this.
Thanks
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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I've read the book several times and nowhere did MJ say that you need 100% control over anything.

In fact, I took it to mean 'don't have a single point of failure'.

Do banking with multiple companies. Don't rely on a single lead or customer source for too long. Don't rely on a single type of software to manage everything in a function. Back up all your data on multiple devices. Don't invest all your spare cash in a single company or fund. Don't rely on a single freelancer to do every function in a job. Don't rely on a single manufacturer.

Not only that, you CANNOT start out with control. You gain control as it becomes more and more pertinent. You may be doing 100% on Amazon in year 1, but in year 2 you might be doin 70% Amazon and 30% your own site. You might start off with one bank account, but grow to 3 bank accounts. You might have a single manufacturer, but then grow to 5 manufacturers.

OP's got it all out of whack.

Legendary status earned right here! Rep+ Featured+
 

The-J

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Legendary status earned right here! Rep+ Featured+

I appreciate the feature. The post came from my experience.

Personally, I do banking with multiple companies, take payment from multiple companies, have more than one source of business (thanks to @458 I've got a bit of a system for one of them that I had kind of neglected despite still getting results from it).

I made a post last year about getting hacked and losing $300. I got F*ckin lucky. Seriously F*ckin lucky. I could have been cleaned and left in the dust. That's when I learned the lesson for real. That was my fault: I left my security to chance. I wasn't in control. Now, my passwords are long and unique for literally everything, and I change them regularly. It scared the F*ck out of me and it was only $300.

Another time I learned the lesson for real was during a 'business slump' where I stopped getting leads via Upwork. Upwork made up like 95% of my F*cking entire income at the time. I was insta-broke. I'm still digging myself out of the consequences of that slump. A simple algorithm change left me in the dust. Guess what? My F*ckin fault: I relied on one source of income way too much. Now, only a small portion of my income comes from Upwork.

Yet another time was when I hired a freelancer to do a piece of work for me and he couldn't get it done in time. It screwed up my whole roll and the client stopped trusting me because I couldn't get him the deliverable in time. I relied on his a$$ way too much: always have a backup.

Think about it this way: if there's one thing that can happen to leave you F*cked... you're not in control.

Hopefully this also helps those who are confused about control.
 
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Frankie Relax

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Totally off topic but how did you self publish on el corte ingles? Was it through street lit? Very interested in how you did this.
Thanks

Hello, I used this Italian self-publishing service: La piattaforma italiana di self-publishing per pubblicare il tuo libro o il tuo ebook.

It automatically publishes your book on "El Corte Ingles" too... (as well as many other platforms).

Altough it's Italian, I believe you can contact them if you wanna try to publish using their service.
 

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