Sunk cost fallacy or opportunity?

[george2]

Hi there. I am new to the forum and would like to tell you a little bit about myself and ask for advice. I am 23, originally from Ukraine, came to Canada 9 months ago. Now work a 9-5 job to pay the bills. My dad is a self-employed blacksmith (has his workshop and mostly does most of the work himself) and I grew up with a belief that working for someone else is bad and that you should work for yourself. But self-employed is not a business and although I can work with my hands and helped my dad from a young age I always felt that I could do more. Recently "I got lucky" to read The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted . Both books are phenomenal and changed my perspective on a lot of things (Money Scam - Value VS Money, Luck - Probabilities, and so many more). I have been doing Amazon KDP book publishing for a while (published notebooks, coloring books, puzzle books, logbooks, etc). The average salary in Ukraine is about 500$, so I thought that if I could earn about 5000$ passively it would be perfect. Now I realize that:
a) It's really not a lot of money
b) You can't rely on that income because you don't have control
The business model lacks control and probably entry (although if you spent a lot of time like I did and you compete with money-chasers and value-cheaters that just want to earn a quick buck you can argue that). Recently I got my account blocked for some bullshit copyright reason that makes no sense (some other person tried to сopy my book and I got banned, LOL). Although the issue is being discussed with KDP support and they will most likely give the account back I do not want to pursue the thing I don't have control over and can't rely on to quit the job. I want to become a shark now. After spending a lot of time in that space I have learned pretty much everything about that business, from book covers to interior designs to keywords, ads, launches, etc.
My question is this: should I forget about this thing, just move on and start a completely different CENTS-based business or is it better to utilize my knowledge and create some kind of educational value about it(course, platform) for people who want to do it? I do not want to do video content because I am an introverted person, but I have learned copywriting and know basic HTML/CSS. I could create a website with a course and helpful additional resources, etc, and run ads to it. I think such a product would be valuable for people.
My opinion can be biased because I invested a lot of time into that thing so I would be grateful to hear some external points of view.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

so I thought that if I could earn about 5000$ passively it would be perfect. Now I realize that:

Just want to be clear: you're already making $5K/mo from your KDP business?

 

[george2]

Just want to be clear: you're already making $5K/mo from your KDP business?

Sorry for the late reply. No, I don't. I was on the way to that goal but after the ban, I now wonder does it even matters if I can't rely on it to quit the job.

 

[Kevin88660]

Hi there. I am new to the forum and would like to tell you a little bit about myself and ask for advice. I am 23, originally from Ukraine, came to Canada 9 months ago. Now work a 9-5 job to pay the bills. My dad is a self-employed blacksmith (has his workshop and mostly does most of the work himself) and I grew up with a belief that working for someone else is bad and that you should work for yourself. But self-employed is not a business and although I can work with my hands and helped my dad from a young age I always felt that I could do more. Recently "I got lucky" to read The Millionaire Fastlane and Unscripted . Both books are phenomenal and changed my perspective on a lot of things (Money Scam - Value VS Money, Luck - Probabilities, and so many more). I have been doing Amazon KDP book publishing for a while (published notebooks, coloring books, puzzle books, logbooks, etc). The average salary in Ukraine is about 500$, so I thought that if I could earn about 5000$ passively it would be perfect. Now I realize that:
a) It's really not a lot of money
b) You can't rely on that income because you don't have control
The business model lacks control and probably entry (although if you spent a lot of time like I did and you compete with money-chasers and value-cheaters that just want to earn a quick buck you can argue that). Recently I got my account blocked for some bullshit copyright reason that makes no sense (some other person tried to сopy my book and I got banned, LOL). Although the issue is being discussed with KDP support and they will most likely give the account back I do not want to pursue the thing I don't have control over and can't rely on to quit the job. I want to become a shark now. After spending a lot of time in that space I have learned pretty much everything about that business, from book covers to interior designs to keywords, ads, launches, etc.
My question is this: should I forget about this thing, just move on and start a completely different CENTS-based business or is it better to utilize my knowledge and create some kind of educational value about it(course, platform) for people who want to do it? I do not want to do video content because I am an introverted person, but I have learned copywriting and know basic HTML/CSS. I could create a website with a course and helpful additional resources, etc, and run ads to it. I think such a product would be valuable for people.
My opinion can be biased because I invested a lot of time into that thing so I would be grateful to hear some external points of view.

It is good that you picked up the skill and experience from amazon kdp publishing.

Generally writing is not preferred path of wealth creation for people looking for their first million and I think there is some sort of consensus online for multiple reasons. There are multiple versions of contents available for information seekers these days and many of them being free, so end up you are pursuing a very small niche market in which the need is not a necessity.

I also would advise you to challenge your assumptions about yourself that you are not a “videos person”. Let the market need and trend dictate what skills you should pick up and not letting your own sense comfort making the judgement.

Tiktok today is much like youtube 5-7 years earlier where audience acquisition is much faster. Video is still the dominant forms of content that has the biggest market today.

 

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[george2]

I also would advise you to challenge your assumptions about yourself that you are not a “videos person”. Let the market need and trend dictate what skills you should pick up and not letting your own sense comfort making the judgement.

Thank you for your advice - it's a valid point.

 

[george2]

Just want to be clear: you're already making $5K/mo from your KDP business?

Hey MJ. I am creating a course, and wanted to ask you - can I use some terms (value vauchers, value skew) and points from your book? I would recommend the book inside the course.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I am creating a course

How are you creating a course on something you have not had success with?

For the love of God, please don't be this guy.

 

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[george2]

How are you creating a course on something you have not had success with?

For the love of God, please don't be this guy.

I totally understand what you are saying. All the books I published lately were doing well and making money. Unfortunately, I got banned for a stupid reason. I truly believe that I can bring value to people with the course. Otherwise, what should I do, just throw all the knowledge I have and start something new? At the end of your post - taught others to repeat the grift with no real value created. What if I create a real value?