SLOWLANE INTRO Slowlane success story

[Medic]

Hi all,

Been lurking on the forum for a while and thought it time to introduce myself:

My story is very different from most in that I followed the slow lane and actually did well. Both the wife and I are 2nd generation immigrants of dirt poor parents. We both got underprivileged college scholarships, she's now a practicing MD, I'm a PhD engineer. We got good j-o-b's out of college and after 7 years of steady work take half a million a year out of the corporations we work for. In that time we paid off a half million condo which now provided passive rental income (we moved to a 1Mill house when the kids arrived).

So what's my point?

I'm not here telling you this to brag but to tell you that for the last 2 years I've also worked on a side business (it's an electronics gadget used in sports) and after committing every spare evening hour I have to the business (concept, design, manufacturing, website, sales everything....) I've just about made 10K....

For me it's been so much easier to take large paychecks off a corporation than it has to launch and run my own side business. I'm still running the business but so far the slow lane is winning.

I read the forums for inspiration and am always wondering if given my available capital there are better paths than the one I'm on and want to thank all the contributors for their stories. Rich and poor we all want the dream, the challenge of finding the process or method that takes us to fulfillment. For me at every level of success it's always been about the journey, not the end.

Best.

Medic

 

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[SteveO]

My wife is an attorney. She makes decent money.

I spent 19 years at HP. I left the job when my money from apartment investing was large enough to pay the bills. At one point I was making a ton of money but all-in-all, I have made more than her by a significant amount.

Passive income can come in many forms. Most here on this forum are doing online businesses. That is only one of many ways to go.

 

[openminded790]

Hey Medic,

I can relate to this somewhat. I used to work as a civil engineer before I jumped into the affiliate marketing industry full-time. A few months after I quit work I would think how easy it was just going to work, doing what you had to do and waiting for mid month for a nice paycheck.

At the start of entrepreneurship it's confusing to learn all the elements for succeeding but as you get more experience you can spot & capitalize on opportunities more often.

Hope you continue that entrepreneur spirit! Don't be afraid to move on to another project if you feel you've done what you could with this one.

~ Mateen

 

[DeletedUser2]

Investing differently might be a path,

Possibly going the route of licensing.

there are alot of ways besides direct running of a company that sells a product.

what you may be lacking is a realization that you could leverage what you make, or do now, into a faster lane.

PM for suggestions

or go read @StephenKey "one simple Idea" book

He is on the forum.
Z

 

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[Norman987]

Apartment investing is a really great way to go, and I am actually trying to go there myself. Despite that it's not easy, reading your success stories really motivates me

 

[Felix II]

Hey Medic, you should write an e-book on how you became so successful in your engineering career.

I have a a masters degree in EE and I have never quite figured out what it takes to become a super successful engineer (of course I've been focusing on Fastline ideas more than my career ever since I was an undergrad.)

I think a lot of engineers would pay good money to learn what it takes to crack $110k, $120k, $150k, or even $200k per year.

 

[Medic]

Hi Felix,

That's a good idea. Just like the Fastlane there is definitely a process and formula to a successful slowlane career.
The bit I struggled with for a couple years was whether to put extra effort in on the j-o-b in the hope of a promotion/better bonus or to use the time for Fastlane ideas towards a second income.
So far I've done a few Fastlane projects and to be completely honest found the time I've commited to be worth less than slowlane career gains (I also lost around 20K trying so far). Even as a very successful person I'd have made more money with the hours invested doing a night shift at McDonald's.... It's been brutally hard to make money myself. The product I developed is generating hobby money at best, nothing that would materially change my life. I've done some per diem consulting (there's a Fastlane method to getting those gigs I should share) which was very profitable but not regular work.

All the people I know in Fastlane activities are already wealthy (so can risk capital and survive failures) or have slowlane jobs to keep food on the whilst they work on that epic winner.

Medic.

 

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[Medic]

Apartment investing is a really great way to go, and I am actually trying to go there myself. Despite that it's not easy, reading your success stories really motivates me

I think it depends. You really need the right apartment or a duplex to make it work. My rental ROI is only 5% and that's without a mortgage (I was actually subsidizing the tenant when I had a mortgage). There will be appreciation as the market picks up but even then it's not a great use of the capital. If I'd invested that capital in the S&P last year I would have cleared 20%+

Actually it's worth mentioning what a con mortgages are: You speak to any bank about a 30yr fixed and they will tell you rates are crazy low; just 4% for a typical loan. But look at your statement and you'll see for every dollar borrowed around 70c goes to the bank. The bank claws back it's investment aggressively during the first 10yrs knowing that statistically you'll stay 7yrs. So that 4% interest rate is more like 60-70% in the short-mid term time frame. Doesn't sound so good now right....?

The most valuable thing about having the rental for me is the security of knowing that if I ever crash out of my slow or fast lane activities I have a place to live.

 

[Medic]

Investing differently might be a path,

Possibly going the route of licensing.

there are alot of ways besides direct running of a company that sells a product.

what you may be lacking is a realization that you could leverage what you make, or do now, into a faster lane.

PM for suggestions

or go read @StephenKey "one simple Idea" book

He is on the forum.
Z

Hi Z.

I've read so many of your posts, I'm honored you've responded to one of mine!
The device I made is for a niche sports market. It's not worth patenting and doesn't lend itself to licensing due to the niche and upside estimates of maybe 100K. The purpose of this product was to get all the infrastructure in place for spinning out similar devices quickly thereafter. There's definitely better potential than I have monetized so far but we are just launching so are still ramping up marketing and reputation in the sport. My biggest problem currently is deciding how much inventory to hold. I haven't got good projections yet but will know better by spring.

Thanks for your interest.