Hello everyone! It has been a long time since I have posted here but I have visited often.
A lot has happened since I first joined this forum when I was 18. I am currently 26. I am NOT currently a millionaire or where I thought I would be, but I have taken multiple swings and learned valuable lessons each time.
Long story short, after starting multiple businesses that each either were too niche or started to take off but lost traction, I ended up 30K in debt and back in a warehouse a couple years ago.
I paid off all my debts including my car, bought a house with favorable terms, put some money into savings, and started an electrical engineering degree that I am currently finishing up my associates in.
I HATE the entire school system with a passion. It is an old system that has not been updated to keep up with the times. I have self-taught all the subjects up to this point while hitting a 4.0 GPA. A couple things school taught me were discipline and time management. Now that I am finishing up my associates, I am finding it hard to want to keep going full steam ahead with the $50,000 price tag attached to the last two years for information I can learn almost entirely for free. This is not to mention the mass layoffs going on due to AI. This topic is for another thread though.
As of right now, I have decided to cut back on school and take a couple more swings. I have a feeling that everything I've learned may pay off. I plan on taking a class this semester to keep momentum going with school while I see how things play out.
My first venture is going to be a appliance refurbishing/repair business. I used to run a furniture business doing this exact thing, but after COVID too many people started doing it for it to remain profitable.
Appliance repair is not rocket science, but most people are intimidated by it, which is good. My goal with this is to replace my current 9-5 job. I am so bored and tired of it that a fire has been lit under me to make a change. I miss setting my own hours and learning something new everyday while making a great income. I plan on starting with refurbishing (while also offering installation and delivery services) and then branching out into local appliance repair as I become better at it.
My second venture is a product/invention. This is my true Fastlane project. I won't disclose exactly what it is here, since this is an entrepreneur forum, but I will detail my big-picture progress and process. I would not have had the confidence years ago to attempt to build this product, but since I've gone to school for engineering, I now do. I have already begun creating a prototype. If I had to approximate, I would say I will have a finished prototype in three months.
In summary, my first venture is a short-term "get out of my mind-numbing job" hustle that has the potential to free up my time and increase my income. My second venture is a long-term Fastlane business.
I recall @MJ DeMarco writing about being monogamous, and have thought about it with doing these two at the same time. The only reason I am justifying it is because I will guaranteed spend the ten hours a day working at my job, so it's worth it to redirect those hours into a hustle. The worst-case scenario is I miss a couple days of work each week for about a month and then go back to being full-time. The best-case scenario is I can quit my job.
I hope someone can get something out of this thread as I update it. I also am starting this so I can stay accountable and have somewhere to update my progress to.
First Update:
Today I have officially repaired my first two dishwashers. I felt comfortable taking parts apart and testing them. I got them both for cheap (roughly $40 each) and am aiming to sell them for $250-$300. I will include a six month warranty (maybe a year) with each of them. Delivery and installation will be separate charges. As I sell these, I will get reviews for my business listing I create for local appliance repair, so when I begin to offer it as a service I won't be starting from scratch.
I am finishing up my current semester this week. Starting next Monday I will be spending three hours a night working on my prototype instead of studying like I usually would with that time.
A lot has happened since I first joined this forum when I was 18. I am currently 26. I am NOT currently a millionaire or where I thought I would be, but I have taken multiple swings and learned valuable lessons each time.
Long story short, after starting multiple businesses that each either were too niche or started to take off but lost traction, I ended up 30K in debt and back in a warehouse a couple years ago.
I paid off all my debts including my car, bought a house with favorable terms, put some money into savings, and started an electrical engineering degree that I am currently finishing up my associates in.
I HATE the entire school system with a passion. It is an old system that has not been updated to keep up with the times. I have self-taught all the subjects up to this point while hitting a 4.0 GPA. A couple things school taught me were discipline and time management. Now that I am finishing up my associates, I am finding it hard to want to keep going full steam ahead with the $50,000 price tag attached to the last two years for information I can learn almost entirely for free. This is not to mention the mass layoffs going on due to AI. This topic is for another thread though.
As of right now, I have decided to cut back on school and take a couple more swings. I have a feeling that everything I've learned may pay off. I plan on taking a class this semester to keep momentum going with school while I see how things play out.
My first venture is going to be a appliance refurbishing/repair business. I used to run a furniture business doing this exact thing, but after COVID too many people started doing it for it to remain profitable.
Appliance repair is not rocket science, but most people are intimidated by it, which is good. My goal with this is to replace my current 9-5 job. I am so bored and tired of it that a fire has been lit under me to make a change. I miss setting my own hours and learning something new everyday while making a great income. I plan on starting with refurbishing (while also offering installation and delivery services) and then branching out into local appliance repair as I become better at it.
My second venture is a product/invention. This is my true Fastlane project. I won't disclose exactly what it is here, since this is an entrepreneur forum, but I will detail my big-picture progress and process. I would not have had the confidence years ago to attempt to build this product, but since I've gone to school for engineering, I now do. I have already begun creating a prototype. If I had to approximate, I would say I will have a finished prototype in three months.
In summary, my first venture is a short-term "get out of my mind-numbing job" hustle that has the potential to free up my time and increase my income. My second venture is a long-term Fastlane business.
I recall @MJ DeMarco writing about being monogamous, and have thought about it with doing these two at the same time. The only reason I am justifying it is because I will guaranteed spend the ten hours a day working at my job, so it's worth it to redirect those hours into a hustle. The worst-case scenario is I miss a couple days of work each week for about a month and then go back to being full-time. The best-case scenario is I can quit my job.
I hope someone can get something out of this thread as I update it. I also am starting this so I can stay accountable and have somewhere to update my progress to.
First Update:
Today I have officially repaired my first two dishwashers. I felt comfortable taking parts apart and testing them. I got them both for cheap (roughly $40 each) and am aiming to sell them for $250-$300. I will include a six month warranty (maybe a year) with each of them. Delivery and installation will be separate charges. As I sell these, I will get reviews for my business listing I create for local appliance repair, so when I begin to offer it as a service I won't be starting from scratch.
I am finishing up my current semester this week. Starting next Monday I will be spending three hours a night working on my prototype instead of studying like I usually would with that time.
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