Hi guys,
I've been on a hiatus from here for about a year - a year of executing, and mostly a year of failure (I don't like the term failure, to be honest - sometimes you win, sometimes you learn, so i've been learning)
I'm going to keep this thread updated on a daily basis until I have reached the milestones I'm aiming for - and then I will retire this thread as a testament to all of those who come on here and look for advice on where to start and how to get from A to B.
I'm going to provide a brief summary of who I am, my life, where I'm at, and where I'm going. Hopefully my journey thus far will be enough to motivate those of your reading to take action and achieve your goals.. but I'm just getting started.
Family Background:
My parents were both born from lower-class families.
My father came from welfare. He had 6 brothers and sisters living in a cramped apartment with very little food, but always a cigarette to be found. When he was 18, he was kicked out and had to go fend for his own. He entered the workforce, and never had much of a chance or a vision to escape the grind. He worked all the time, eventually met my mother, and bought a house in the poverty-area he grew up. He later sold the house and 3 months after I was born, they bought a nicer house in my hometown and moved. He passed high school and that was as far as his education extended.
My mother came from a second floor apartment with a single mother. Her father was never around. They lived frugal, and while not on welfare, definitely had a grind of a life to a similar extent.
When my parents met and bought the house in the middle-class town around the time I was born, the struggle never seemed to end. Growing up, every fight was about money. They also hated their jobs.
I knew around 16 that I couldn't suffer a similar fate. I had to do something different.
My background - From Age 0-16
I was always a scrawny, weak, insecure kid growing up who didn't have a ton of friends. I got bullied all the way through high school, and didn't really have any true friends - just a core group of kids I hung out with.
My insecurities led me to escape reality and indulge in video games. I would play so much that I would literally hallucinate when I would go to sleep and think I was playing the game when I was simply dreaming.
I stumbled across a mentor or two online at the age of 14, when my life began to shift forever. I tried to quit video games, but I couldn't get a grasp of it until I was 17.
My background - Age 17-20
As I neared the completion of high school, I broke the video game addiction. I realized I wanted more out of life, and life EXPECTED more out of me. I put down call of duty, halo, and World of Warcraft. I smashed every Warcraft DVD I had. I sold my Xbox on Craigslist.
Then, I joined a gym and committed fully - it was my outlet, and my escape. It turned out to be the one thing that led me to grow into the person I am today. At age 17, I joined the local planet fitness and walked after school every day. I never stopped exercising from that day onward.
Around the same time, I couldn't get hired for a job - no work experience, and no job wanted to give me any. So my mentor told me to start a business.
I began knocking on doors with my dads push mower and started a lawn care business.
Lawn Care Business
The lawn care business had a year or so of failure - I just didn't know what I was doing, missed appointments, and lost clients. I had a business partner who I later fired. From 17-20 years old, I scaled the lawn care business from 0 to 25 accounts in 6 cities and towns. I bought a truck, trailer, and equipment, and continued to expand. This was my first taste of entrepreneurship, and it lit a fire that has never gone out.
Retail Sales
Around the same time, I got my first retail sales job. It was awful, and reminded me of the importance of running my own business and escaping the 9-5 that my parents never escaped. I was by far the hardest worker in the room, and made $8 an hour. After two years and making $8.55 an hour, I called it quits. My lawn care business had grown to a point that I had no other choice but to quit the retail job and continue my lawn care business, so I packed it in and worked on lawn care full time.
High School
I was a poor student in this time frame. My grades reflected my video-game work ethic, and I didn't really care for school. By junior/senior year, I had a lot more discipline from lifting and exercising, that my grades did start improving. In this late period of my high school life, I watched a few classmates die from making poor choices, which made me realize how important each day is, and that we only get one shot at life.. better make the best of it. I went on and graduated when I turned 18 and headed to community college.
The Gym
The gym turned into the only thing that helped me to gain the discipline and the work ethic to succeed in my everyday life. I started out at 100 or some odd pounds and between 17-20, I packed on well over 40 pounds of muscle and met one of my biggest milestones: I was featured on BodyBuilding.com's Teen Transformation of the week.
Community College
I went to community college after high school because my grades weren't good enough to get into anywhere else, and I didn't apply anywhere else. I had to decide on a business associate degree program, or a transfer program. I decided I'd transfer to a 4 year school. In community college, I worked my absolute face off, got over-involved in every organization, and ended up graduating highest honors with transfer scholarships lined up.
Transferring Colleges
When it became time to transfer, I realized I couldn't afford any other school. I applied for 3 top business schools, and was accepted to 2 and declined from 1. My top school rejected me, so I prepared for plan B. Fortunately, I had some great mentors at community college who reached out and dug into why I was rejected from my top school - with a few errors on their part (I had summer classes I was finishing at community college, since I did every semester including summers for 2 years straight, and they didn't realize I had some extra math-classes I was finishing), they sent me an acceptance letter.
From here, I went to my parents. "I need a co-signer so I can go finish my degree"
- No way in hell, son. "If you want to jump off a bridge on your motorcycle, I'm not buying you the parachute to do it. Figure it out, I'm not co-signing for you".
With the days counting down on the deadline, I made some fast moves and negotiated my financial aid offer and had it significantly increased. I also drove back home on weekends to continue cutting lawns, I picked up a part time job, a work study, and ended up selling the lawn care business. I also negotiated with my parents for a co-sign on $15,000 (which I later found out this past year that it was approved without the co-signer..)
I ended up becoming a resident assistant, worked every summer, and did an extra year at college to continue learning, networking, and growing from the top entrepreneurial school in the country. I graduated dead-broke, because everything went into college, and I stacked up a bit in student loans.
The Entrepreneurial Experience at College
I started several businesses while working. All have been marginally successful since the lawn care business - I was personal training but gave up during college because I didn't have the time.
I started an amazon business and ran out of capital and just couldn't compete - which costed me $6,000 in lessons: don't chase money, chase VALUE.
I started a direct mail company, and parted ways with the business and my business partner after he had a nervous breakdown.
I learned that the college wasn't all I thought it would be - I thought somehow, getting a degree would somehow prepare me for the real world as an entrepreneur. It couldn't have been further from the truth.
I don't regret college. I learned more about myself and grew into who I am today with the struggle and lessons I had in college.
Also, the network I made in college and the people I had the opportunity to learn from was well worth the tuition money.
I've sat down and had breakfast with billionaires. I've learned from them, gotten their advice, and gained insights that I never would have had the opportunity to without college.
I had breakfast with one of the first founding members of a 10B in assets private equity firm.
I took a class with a professor who left Boston Consulting Group to become a founding member at a start up that was acquired a few years later in which he became a hundred-millionaire.
I learned from, and took a class with one of the founding members of blue buffalo dog & cat food and SoBe energy drinks.
.. and many more experiences that made the tuition worth it.
Post College
I was going to either move and live like MJ DeMarco did in his early tales of The Millionaire Fastlane (go move to a random state based on which one had the best criteria and live dead-broke while starting a company), or I was going to get this sales job at one of the top places to work in the city, which I had applied to. I declined all other job offers and only focused on the sales job. If that one didn't turn into a job offer, I'd go move states and live dead-broke and work side jobs to focus on entrepreneurship.
I got the job offer, and started working in SAAS sales for an exciting tech company. In my first month after training, I smashed records. I did so well, they moved me to another division of the company where I could bring in more money because of the way I performed.
I recently started personal training again, because it's been my passion. I've decided I'm going to start by building up a practical business (fitness training) and am aiming to open a gym.
Action Plan Moving Forward
Living Situation
I live with cheap rent in an apartment with a few friends. To date, I hang out with friends for 3 hours a month if I'm lucky. My expenses are super-low, and I'm saving as much money as possible.
Business
I have a handful of clients on contracts for personal training. My plan is to have enough clients and cash flow to open a gym. I'm going to shift from 1-1 training to boot camps shortly, and when I have enough clients on EFT, I'm going to open my own studio space. I rent out of a gym for now and have the keys to the building.
I also have a clipboard application for windows that I've been working on for over a year which has come to fruition - I'll be looking to fully test the idea and get sales shortly - I've ran beta tests and know I can sell it and I know it solves a real need (it's the reason I had it developed) - I just don't know how big the market will be for it. More on this later.
My objective is to open a gym as soon as possible - possibly this year, but my focus is on an FHA property to significantly lower expenses (see next bold point)
Future living situation
The objective is to get an FHA loan and purchase a multi-unit property towards the end of the year to live rent-free. This will save me $7000-8000 a year more than I'm already saving.
Flipping
On the side, I'm going to spend a few hours a week flipping and selling stuff to pay for student loans.
The Goal
To be a serial entrepreneur. To be FREE from the 9-5. To be able to focus fully on how I can make the world a better place and build businesses around everyday problems.
Before I can do this, I need to help MYSELF - make sure I can pay bills, learn all I can, and save capital to inject into business ventures.
I'm saving money working jobs right now for a couple of years until I'm ready to pull the trigger and go all-in on a business opportunity. (Within the next 3 years) For now, I'm working nights and weekends when I'm not at work to build the businesses I outlined above.
I have a checklist and, once all the boxes are checked, that's when I'll go all in on entrepreneurship and not work another job again.
This is a few pieces of the checklist:
Safety & Shelter:
- Living expenses covered from income outside of a job
- Emergency fund full ($7,000 cash)
- Working Capital saved ($50,000)
Strong Base:
- Rent free (own a property, FHA loan, live in 1 unit, rent out others)
- Student loan free (either paying off debt or have a side-stream of income to cover my $280/mo)
Business Setup:
- 14 fitness clients ($300/mo average income for each)
- My own gym space
- Profitable
I'm going to keep this updated as frequently as possible.
Hope this journey so far can inspire a few who are just starting out. I'm currently 23 years old and am just getting started.
It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.
Godspeed.
I've been on a hiatus from here for about a year - a year of executing, and mostly a year of failure (I don't like the term failure, to be honest - sometimes you win, sometimes you learn, so i've been learning)
I'm going to keep this thread updated on a daily basis until I have reached the milestones I'm aiming for - and then I will retire this thread as a testament to all of those who come on here and look for advice on where to start and how to get from A to B.
I'm going to provide a brief summary of who I am, my life, where I'm at, and where I'm going. Hopefully my journey thus far will be enough to motivate those of your reading to take action and achieve your goals.. but I'm just getting started.
Family Background:
My parents were both born from lower-class families.
My father came from welfare. He had 6 brothers and sisters living in a cramped apartment with very little food, but always a cigarette to be found. When he was 18, he was kicked out and had to go fend for his own. He entered the workforce, and never had much of a chance or a vision to escape the grind. He worked all the time, eventually met my mother, and bought a house in the poverty-area he grew up. He later sold the house and 3 months after I was born, they bought a nicer house in my hometown and moved. He passed high school and that was as far as his education extended.
My mother came from a second floor apartment with a single mother. Her father was never around. They lived frugal, and while not on welfare, definitely had a grind of a life to a similar extent.
When my parents met and bought the house in the middle-class town around the time I was born, the struggle never seemed to end. Growing up, every fight was about money. They also hated their jobs.
I knew around 16 that I couldn't suffer a similar fate. I had to do something different.
My background - From Age 0-16
I was always a scrawny, weak, insecure kid growing up who didn't have a ton of friends. I got bullied all the way through high school, and didn't really have any true friends - just a core group of kids I hung out with.
My insecurities led me to escape reality and indulge in video games. I would play so much that I would literally hallucinate when I would go to sleep and think I was playing the game when I was simply dreaming.
I stumbled across a mentor or two online at the age of 14, when my life began to shift forever. I tried to quit video games, but I couldn't get a grasp of it until I was 17.
My background - Age 17-20
As I neared the completion of high school, I broke the video game addiction. I realized I wanted more out of life, and life EXPECTED more out of me. I put down call of duty, halo, and World of Warcraft. I smashed every Warcraft DVD I had. I sold my Xbox on Craigslist.
Then, I joined a gym and committed fully - it was my outlet, and my escape. It turned out to be the one thing that led me to grow into the person I am today. At age 17, I joined the local planet fitness and walked after school every day. I never stopped exercising from that day onward.
Around the same time, I couldn't get hired for a job - no work experience, and no job wanted to give me any. So my mentor told me to start a business.
I began knocking on doors with my dads push mower and started a lawn care business.
Lawn Care Business
The lawn care business had a year or so of failure - I just didn't know what I was doing, missed appointments, and lost clients. I had a business partner who I later fired. From 17-20 years old, I scaled the lawn care business from 0 to 25 accounts in 6 cities and towns. I bought a truck, trailer, and equipment, and continued to expand. This was my first taste of entrepreneurship, and it lit a fire that has never gone out.
Retail Sales
Around the same time, I got my first retail sales job. It was awful, and reminded me of the importance of running my own business and escaping the 9-5 that my parents never escaped. I was by far the hardest worker in the room, and made $8 an hour. After two years and making $8.55 an hour, I called it quits. My lawn care business had grown to a point that I had no other choice but to quit the retail job and continue my lawn care business, so I packed it in and worked on lawn care full time.
High School
I was a poor student in this time frame. My grades reflected my video-game work ethic, and I didn't really care for school. By junior/senior year, I had a lot more discipline from lifting and exercising, that my grades did start improving. In this late period of my high school life, I watched a few classmates die from making poor choices, which made me realize how important each day is, and that we only get one shot at life.. better make the best of it. I went on and graduated when I turned 18 and headed to community college.
The Gym
The gym turned into the only thing that helped me to gain the discipline and the work ethic to succeed in my everyday life. I started out at 100 or some odd pounds and between 17-20, I packed on well over 40 pounds of muscle and met one of my biggest milestones: I was featured on BodyBuilding.com's Teen Transformation of the week.
Community College
I went to community college after high school because my grades weren't good enough to get into anywhere else, and I didn't apply anywhere else. I had to decide on a business associate degree program, or a transfer program. I decided I'd transfer to a 4 year school. In community college, I worked my absolute face off, got over-involved in every organization, and ended up graduating highest honors with transfer scholarships lined up.
Transferring Colleges
When it became time to transfer, I realized I couldn't afford any other school. I applied for 3 top business schools, and was accepted to 2 and declined from 1. My top school rejected me, so I prepared for plan B. Fortunately, I had some great mentors at community college who reached out and dug into why I was rejected from my top school - with a few errors on their part (I had summer classes I was finishing at community college, since I did every semester including summers for 2 years straight, and they didn't realize I had some extra math-classes I was finishing), they sent me an acceptance letter.
From here, I went to my parents. "I need a co-signer so I can go finish my degree"
- No way in hell, son. "If you want to jump off a bridge on your motorcycle, I'm not buying you the parachute to do it. Figure it out, I'm not co-signing for you".
With the days counting down on the deadline, I made some fast moves and negotiated my financial aid offer and had it significantly increased. I also drove back home on weekends to continue cutting lawns, I picked up a part time job, a work study, and ended up selling the lawn care business. I also negotiated with my parents for a co-sign on $15,000 (which I later found out this past year that it was approved without the co-signer..)
I ended up becoming a resident assistant, worked every summer, and did an extra year at college to continue learning, networking, and growing from the top entrepreneurial school in the country. I graduated dead-broke, because everything went into college, and I stacked up a bit in student loans.
The Entrepreneurial Experience at College
I started several businesses while working. All have been marginally successful since the lawn care business - I was personal training but gave up during college because I didn't have the time.
I started an amazon business and ran out of capital and just couldn't compete - which costed me $6,000 in lessons: don't chase money, chase VALUE.
I started a direct mail company, and parted ways with the business and my business partner after he had a nervous breakdown.
I learned that the college wasn't all I thought it would be - I thought somehow, getting a degree would somehow prepare me for the real world as an entrepreneur. It couldn't have been further from the truth.
I don't regret college. I learned more about myself and grew into who I am today with the struggle and lessons I had in college.
Also, the network I made in college and the people I had the opportunity to learn from was well worth the tuition money.
I've sat down and had breakfast with billionaires. I've learned from them, gotten their advice, and gained insights that I never would have had the opportunity to without college.
I had breakfast with one of the first founding members of a 10B in assets private equity firm.
I took a class with a professor who left Boston Consulting Group to become a founding member at a start up that was acquired a few years later in which he became a hundred-millionaire.
I learned from, and took a class with one of the founding members of blue buffalo dog & cat food and SoBe energy drinks.
.. and many more experiences that made the tuition worth it.
Post College
I was going to either move and live like MJ DeMarco did in his early tales of The Millionaire Fastlane (go move to a random state based on which one had the best criteria and live dead-broke while starting a company), or I was going to get this sales job at one of the top places to work in the city, which I had applied to. I declined all other job offers and only focused on the sales job. If that one didn't turn into a job offer, I'd go move states and live dead-broke and work side jobs to focus on entrepreneurship.
I got the job offer, and started working in SAAS sales for an exciting tech company. In my first month after training, I smashed records. I did so well, they moved me to another division of the company where I could bring in more money because of the way I performed.
I recently started personal training again, because it's been my passion. I've decided I'm going to start by building up a practical business (fitness training) and am aiming to open a gym.
Action Plan Moving Forward
Living Situation
I live with cheap rent in an apartment with a few friends. To date, I hang out with friends for 3 hours a month if I'm lucky. My expenses are super-low, and I'm saving as much money as possible.
Business
I have a handful of clients on contracts for personal training. My plan is to have enough clients and cash flow to open a gym. I'm going to shift from 1-1 training to boot camps shortly, and when I have enough clients on EFT, I'm going to open my own studio space. I rent out of a gym for now and have the keys to the building.
I also have a clipboard application for windows that I've been working on for over a year which has come to fruition - I'll be looking to fully test the idea and get sales shortly - I've ran beta tests and know I can sell it and I know it solves a real need (it's the reason I had it developed) - I just don't know how big the market will be for it. More on this later.
My objective is to open a gym as soon as possible - possibly this year, but my focus is on an FHA property to significantly lower expenses (see next bold point)
Future living situation
The objective is to get an FHA loan and purchase a multi-unit property towards the end of the year to live rent-free. This will save me $7000-8000 a year more than I'm already saving.
Flipping
On the side, I'm going to spend a few hours a week flipping and selling stuff to pay for student loans.
The Goal
To be a serial entrepreneur. To be FREE from the 9-5. To be able to focus fully on how I can make the world a better place and build businesses around everyday problems.
Before I can do this, I need to help MYSELF - make sure I can pay bills, learn all I can, and save capital to inject into business ventures.
I'm saving money working jobs right now for a couple of years until I'm ready to pull the trigger and go all-in on a business opportunity. (Within the next 3 years) For now, I'm working nights and weekends when I'm not at work to build the businesses I outlined above.
I have a checklist and, once all the boxes are checked, that's when I'll go all in on entrepreneurship and not work another job again.
This is a few pieces of the checklist:
Safety & Shelter:
- Living expenses covered from income outside of a job
- Emergency fund full ($7,000 cash)
- Working Capital saved ($50,000)
Strong Base:
- Rent free (own a property, FHA loan, live in 1 unit, rent out others)
- Student loan free (either paying off debt or have a side-stream of income to cover my $280/mo)
Business Setup:
- 14 fitness clients ($300/mo average income for each)
- My own gym space
- Profitable
I'm going to keep this updated as frequently as possible.
Hope this journey so far can inspire a few who are just starting out. I'm currently 23 years old and am just getting started.
It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.
Godspeed.
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