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Your introduction to Grant! Also requesting some suggestions related to a new business!

TwoPresidents

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Hey everyone!

I'm really happy to be creating this post and interacting with you guys, finally. I've been a member here for a couple months and doing lots of lurking, and after a LOT (read: too much) thinking about whether to post this or not, I thought I'd take the shot!

My name is Grant, I'm 35, and I've lived in Denver, CO for the last 11 years. I'm recently engaged, and my fiance is a yoga instructor and also a budding entrepreneur, herself. More to the point of this site, I've attempted some entrepreneurial paths, although none yet have worked out. I've taken a (weak) shot at multiple MLMs (which, after reading the chapter about hitchhiking I totally understood why I it didn't feel right), along with discovering for myself which path in real estate I want to take (I'll say more about that in a minute). There's another space of entrepreneurship inside of being a well-being coach I'm pursuing, too. I've had a long standing, deeply rooted desire towards entrepreneurship and working a regular j.o.b has always felt really out of place for me.

SO - where am I in all this, right now? WELL, currently, I'm seeking out a job in IT to pay the bills (rent, gas, food, etc). And, it's going... Slowly. It's definitely not what I //want// to do, although it's what I //need// to do in the meantime. Once I find a job, I'm hoping it'll pay well enough to handle the basic bills, and also fund what I want to do inside of real estate, which I'll talk more about now.

I've searched the site for seller financed notes, and didn't really find a whole lot mentioned about it. I did see something about performing notes, and that's all I really found. One important thing I've accomplished, I'm very fortunate to have created a relationship with one of the top master note brokers/buyers in the country, and he has been mentoring me. However, what I'm lacking is marketing dollars and capital I can use to get things done in the meantime, like paying someone to get the website done for me (she was referred to me), configuring the domain/email address, marketing, and stuff like that. And the basic idea is to start as a note broker, and as I generate more capital through that business, I can start buying Notes myself for the long term passive income. I'd like to start lead gen the first quarter next year, turn a profit, and start buying my own Notes by summertime. It also doesn't really seem like a business many people are involved in (or that good at, frankly), and it's something I'm also really passionate about and see a pretty clear path for myself and my future family.

So here is where I want to say a few things, and I'm excited for your suggestions and guidance. I'm SUPER fortunate that I saw MJ DeMarco's book on Amazon, and loved it immediately. I got the ebook and the audiobook on the same day. That book brought me to you guys, and I really love the success and sense of community and support that I discovered here.

The questions:

► First one - should I just suck it up and get a job in the meantime and spend more time saving the money short term for marketing my Notes business?
► Second, related to the first - might it work better to find someone who is willing to lend me $7-10K //now// so I can both market for leads for my new business, and do that while working a regular full time job during the day to gain momentum?
► Third, and another option - How well would it work to borrow $30K and just leap hard into this business full time, for the next six months? With that amount of cash, I could focus on the business without being concerned about rent/bills/food/gas, and take actions //today// on fulfilling on it.
► Fourth - what/where can I learn about about raising capital, and what experiences have you had? I've looked on the forum for that, and I also didn't really find a lot of information about it. It may not be the right solution to do now, although later on when the business grows and I need to expand, it will be a skill to come in handy, and I'd rather work on it now when I'm starting out, than later when I really need it and don't have that ability developed yet.

I want to take a moment to just thank you guys wholeheartedly for reading this up to this point. I know this took some time, and is longer than usual since it's an introduction and my first post. I'll be 36 years old in about a month, and I'm REALLY over experiencing being broke and not living the life that I was put here to create. Friendships and connection are really important to me as a person, as is also being authentic with myself and others through communication. My intent is also to really create friendships here with you all, and have them exist both here and out in the world. I think it would be awesome to have Skype calls, or phone calls, getting together in person, and create something here that is uncommon, as a contribution to you guys. I don't know what your thoughts are on that, although I'd be interested to find out. Another intention I have is to really become a success story out of this Forum and this work, and from there create other success stories like I've read about so far.

Thank you in advance for your feedback and interacting with me, and I appreciate your support!

Grant

(And any other feedback you have unrelated to the topic is welcome, too)
 
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RazorCut

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Welcome Grant,

This really is advice for anyone thinking of borrowing money and ditching a job to set up a business:

At the end of the day only you know the likely risk involved in you borrowing money for an enterprise. I think if would be fool hardy for any of us to say yeah, sure, borrow 30k and dive right in. We don't know your experience, your past history, your mentor and how closely he/she will work with you, or anything along those lines that would give an indicator as to your potential success.

Personally I like to bootstrap wherever possible, especially in uncharted waters so I would say get a job and learn the ropes while you have all the bases covered.

That way if it doesn't work out for you aren't in a 30k hole.

Also bear in mind that entrepreneurship is a journey of discovery. Very few make it work on their first outings. It is much more common to come away with burnt fingers and some hard won lessons.

If you had had a string of successful businesses in the past and were contemplating going all in then fine as you would have the knowledge to know the risk/reward factors.

However you are not in that position. Basically you don't know what you don't know which is a dangerous spot to be in. We can all get a little carried away when we seen a new shiny thing but you need to stand back and look at this dispassionately. Do the sums and look at the worst case scenario. Your job, if you decide to go ahead, is to reduce the risk on the downside as much as possible.

A lot of people think that Richard Branson is a risk taking, adrenaline junkie, maverick that got lucky a few times and rode off the back of that but in reality every venture he has gone down he has mitigated the risks as much as possible. Hell, with Virgin Airlines he called Boeing and asked them if they had any second-hand 747s for sale. He then did a deal whereby if the enterprise failed he could hand the planes back and walk away.

Bringing things to a smaller scale I have seen umpteen new businesses start up in my small town. People who have taken their passion and their redundancy money, savings or second mortgage and opened a shop in one of the many empty stores that pop up throughout the year. I see them and my hair stands on end and I scream inside NOOOOOO. For I know that they will be bankrupt within 18 months tops.

I've seen restaurants, bars, shops, all crash and burn in the last 5 years and it is nothing to do with the economy, it is just people opening the wrong business in the wrong place. All because they went in with everything but experience.

-
 

MJ DeMarco

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and also fund what I want to do inside of real estate, which I'll talk more about now.

I've searched the site for seller financed notes, and didn't really find a whole lot mentioned about it. I did see something about performing notes, and that's all I really found.

Why do you want to do this? Because there is a genuine market need?

Or is it just because what you want to do it?

The market doesn't care what YOU want to do.

And if you don't care about the market, ultimately it makes a difference between running an entrepreneur business (a productocracy, that's in Unscripted ) and a marketing business that is nothing but a grind.

Welcome to the forum.
 

TwoPresidents

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Why do you want to do this? Because there is a genuine market need?

Or is it just because what you want to do it?

The market doesn't care what YOU want to do.

I totally get that. The simple answer to the question is, yes, there is a need. And also, yes, it is something I want to do. The same applies for what I'm up to inside of health/fitness/well-being (which I haven't mentioned). It's both something I want to do, AND there is definitely a market need. I haven't read Unscripted yet, although

Also, thank you for taking the time to read what I wrote, and also the welcome. I'm excited to be here and being part of the group!

This really is advice for anyone thinking of borrowing money and ditching a job to set up a business:

Thanks man, I just wanted to acknowledge that I saw your reply and read it thoroughly. I'm still working on the job, and the plan so far is to work that, and then fund the business. If an opportunity to borrow money does come up, I'll look more into it and it likely not be $30K. Discovery IS a pretty key element to entrepreneurship and I appreciate your mentioning that.
 
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TwoPresidents

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Hey @lowtek, thanks for the feedback man. My thought is the same!

And thank you! Being engaged is definitely new!
 

Kristie

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Dec 8, 2018
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Hey everyone!

I'm really happy to be creating this post and interacting with you guys, finally. I've been a member here for a couple months and doing lots of lurking, and after a LOT (read: too much) thinking about whether to post this or not, I thought I'd take the shot!

My name is Grant, I'm 35, and I've lived in Denver, CO for the last 11 years. I'm recently engaged, and my fiance is a yoga instructor and also a budding entrepreneur, herself. More to the point of this site, I've attempted some entrepreneurial paths, although none yet have worked out. I've taken a (weak) shot at multiple MLMs (which, after reading the chapter about hitchhiking I totally understood why I it didn't feel right), along with discovering for myself which path in real estate I want to take (I'll say more about that in a minute). There's another space of entrepreneurship inside of being a well-being coach I'm pursuing, too. I've had a long standing, deeply rooted desire towards entrepreneurship and working a regular j.o.b has always felt really out of place for me.

SO - where am I in all this, right now? WELL, currently, I'm seeking out a job in IT to pay the bills (rent, gas, food, etc). And, it's going... Slowly. It's definitely not what I //want// to do, although it's what I //need// to do in the meantime. Once I find a job, I'm hoping it'll pay well enough to handle the basic bills, and also fund what I want to do inside of real estate, which I'll talk more about now.

I've searched the site for seller financed notes, and didn't really find a whole lot mentioned about it. I did see something about performing notes, and that's all I really found. One important thing I've accomplished, I'm very fortunate to have created a relationship with one of the top master note brokers/buyers in the country, and he has been mentoring me. However, what I'm lacking is marketing dollars and capital I can use to get things done in the meantime, like paying someone to get the website done for me (she was referred to me), configuring the domain/email address, marketing, and stuff like that. And the basic idea is to start as a note broker, and as I generate more capital through that business, I can start buying Notes myself for the long term passive income. I'd like to start lead gen the first quarter next year, turn a profit, and start buying my own Notes by summertime. It also doesn't really seem like a business many people are involved in (or that good at, frankly), and it's something I'm also really passionate about and see a pretty clear path for myself and my future family.

So here is where I want to say a few things, and I'm excited for your suggestions and guidance. I'm SUPER fortunate that I saw MJ DeMarco's book on Amazon, and loved it immediately. I got the ebook and the audiobook on the same day. That book brought me to you guys, and I really love the success and sense of community and support that I discovered here.

The questions:

► First one - should I just suck it up and get a job in the meantime and spend more time saving the money short term for marketing my Notes business?
► Second, related to the first - might it work better to find someone who is willing to lend me $7-10K //now// so I can both market for leads for my new business, and do that while working a regular full time job during the day to gain momentum?
► Third, and another option - How well would it work to borrow $30K and just leap hard into this business full time, for the next six months? With that amount of cash, I could focus on the business without being concerned about rent/bills/food/gas, and take actions //today// on fulfilling on it.
► Fourth - what/where can I learn about about raising capital, and what experiences have you had? I've looked on the forum for that, and I also didn't really find a lot of information about it. It may not be the right solution to do now, although later on when the business grows and I need to expand, it will be a skill to come in handy, and I'd rather work on it now when I'm starting out, than later when I really need it and don't have that ability developed yet.

I want to take a moment to just thank you guys wholeheartedly for reading this up to this point. I know this took some time, and is longer than usual since it's an introduction and my first post. I'll be 36 years old in about a month, and I'm REALLY over experiencing being broke and not living the life that I was put here to create. Friendships and connection are really important to me as a person, as is also being authentic with myself and others through communication. My intent is also to really create friendships here with you all, and have them exist both here and out in the world. I think it would be awesome to have Skype calls, or phone calls, getting together in person, and create something here that is uncommon, as a contribution to you guys. I don't know what your thoughts are on that, although I'd be interested to find out. Another intention I have is to really become a success story out of this Forum and this work, and from there create other success stories like I've read about so far.

Thank you in advance for your feedback and interacting with me, and I appreciate your support!

Grant

(And any other feedback you have unrelated to the topic is welcome, too)

Hi Grant! I totally understand your plight. I am in the same boat and seeking a PT position to supplement my current clients. I will be happy to help you are anyone in the forum in any way I can. I also think virtual or in person would be cool. I, unfortunately, am not the best person to answer your questions, but a book that helped me decide to become an entrepreneur is 'Think and Grow Rich' by Napoleon Hill. This book might help you decide on whether to supplement your income with a loan and PT J.O.B. or borrow enough and jump all in. If you will let me know what state you are in, I am happy to check and see if you may possibly qualify for unemployment for a period of time. Some states allow it for owners of start-ups, or feel free to check for yourself with your state's labor board. So many have the application/information right online so you don't even have to wait until Monday.
 
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