How did you do it? Financial Success Thread

[jbird]

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I assume you're talking about Babson College? Thanks for the inspiring story!

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Yep, Babson.

Glad you guys enjoyed it -- never really written it down like that, felt kinda good [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[El Diablo]

All,

There are some really impressive stories in this thread. I've found every single one of them very interesting. The coolest part to me is the fact that there are stories ranging the full spectrum from really young guys w/ no experience or money relying on their hustle and smarts to make the most of opportunities to people who are older w/ deep industry experience that leveraged their knowledge, contacts, experience, and assets to their fullest potential.

As trite as it sounds, I think the key really is crap like "just do it" and "keep trying." That's more true than ever nowadays when startup costs for good online ideas are so minimal and adoption curves can be so incredibly steep via viral growth methods and savvy online marketing.

Here are a few random thoughts after reading through a bunch of these.

1) Protect your equity. Do whatever you can to maintain as big a percentage for yourself and your team. Stretching yourself financially, cutting corners, and being creative with how you get goods/services (barter, favors, deferred payment, sweat equity) can all pay huge dividends for you later.

2) Figure out your strengths and leverage them. Is it a name/brand? Connections? Unique experience/insight into a market? Sales? Don't worry about what the other guy is making money doing. Figure out what it is that you are better positioned to take advantage of anyone else and focus on taking advantage of that.

3) Ridiculous levels of conviction, confidence, and perseverence. Every successful entrepreneur I know has faced hurdles that by any rational evaluation should have him throw in the towel. And that's what most people do. Not the guys who KNOW they are right, though. Obviously, if you have really dumb ideas, well, sucks to be you.

4) Work with partners and investors you trust, but get everything in writing and don't gloss over the financial parts. You want to address all this stuff BEFORE anything bad or unexpected happens when everyone is all postive and pointed in the right direction. Just trusting that everything will work out can lead to a lot of problems. Here's a cautionary tale, I know of many more: http://powazek.com/posts/534

I'll write up some more of these. In the meantime, keep the great stories coming.

[ArturiusX]

Also, I'll throw in one more El, no one ever did it completely alone. The man who knows a specialist in every facet becomes an all-around specialist himself.

[hanster]

I was moved by the JPG story. It's kind of like when Jobs was kicked out of Apple. Man, that was depressing.

[mmbt0ne]

jbird,

considering I just started working with Heidelberg's warehousing division your story is pretty cool. Also, unless you have some really big trucks in Australia, I think the presses are a lot bigger than you gave them credit for. Most presses take 3 or 4 containers (40' x 9') to deliver.

[faststeady]

mmbt

the presses i bought were heidlebergs (M600's out of france)
although goss now own their web division.

rima trimmers and a robot stacker and palletiser from japan

B doubles (trucks) are about 80 metres long, australia being so big , our trucks are like train carriages. particularly up top where they are called road trains and take something like 10 km's to stop

most presses i have bought are around 250 tonnes

i just had one of your directors out here on another project i'm working on. as you work in inches and feet , we work in millimeters and metres i asked if 26 mm of steel cost the same as an inch of steel and i was told its dearer, even though its the same length... i thought that was funny

[Sofisdad]

Great thread.

I have a job managing real estate but the part of my life that I have a great passion for is the ISP I co-funded in 2004.

The area in which I live has only 2 Internet Service Providers providing access to cable or fiber optic Internet Connections. Both companies have been around for quite some time and are large, slow moving creatures that have lost the ability to take risks, be agile in the business environment, or adapt to new opportunities in our field that present themselves currently. Indiana is full of small towns and farm communities that had no access to broadband Internet whatsoever. The cost to lay fiber into a 500, 1,000, or 2,000 person town was too much to justify the cable companies moving into them with service. We (technology friend of mine and myself) saw a need in the area and decided to fill it using fixed wireless Broadband technology.

A Wireless Internet company has a business plan that could sell itself to anyone. Pay between $175-$300 for equipment for each subscriber, charge between $199-$299 for equipment on installation, then set up a 24 month contract at $39.95 per month at 1 meg speed (varies depending on the needs of the customer). Utilizing a backbone OC3 connection we get $1.00 in monthly revenue for every 3 cents we put into bandwidth for the network. We reach break even on costs for each customer after 3 months after taking into account the cost of sales, office staff, installers, etc. Months 4-24 in the contract are almost entirely profit. Its a very top heavy business with much up front capital required but we have very, very smart people coordinating the network and now have deployed 87 towers with access points in a 16 county area in Indiana. Operating revenue of $97,000 in our first year is expected to reach $4.4 million by the end of this year. I took a 49% stake in the company with a $300,000 up front investment and the company will have paid back this investment by February, 2008, at which point I will receive a fair portion of profits generated from that point forward. It looks to be a very successful venture if things continue to progress as they have to date.

1. Smaller companies have the advantage of agility and flexibility over larger competitors. Its much easier to change the path or core competency of the business when it has 35 employees versus a competitor's 5,000 employees. Use this agility to your advantage as a person looking for work or business opportunities.

2. If you own a company, never let your customers run your business. Have someone at the top with a backbone that will never be broken.

3. Word of mouth is the strongest ally or enemy you will ever have. Treat it as such.

4. There are a million ways to make a million dollars. Never give up, but don't force yourself into a direction that you will be miserable in long term.

5. Have at least 3 mentors to bounce ideas off of as you progress in life and in your career. Their input and experience will be invaluable.

6. While you're young: if you want to own a retail store someday, work in retail; if you want to own a warehousing operation someday, work in a warehouse. Work in the field that you want to eventually settle in regardless of the job title. The experience will be priceless.

7. Never burn bridges. You never know when you'll need to cross back over one.

8. Make notes of names of people you meet every day. Don't allow yourself the luxury of forgetting them.

9. Time and perseverance must be limitless if you intend to start up a venture on your own. 7 day a week, 24 hour a day availability of yourself is often a sacrifice that must be made in the best interests of your venture and/or money.

10. People must trust you in life and in business. Never, ever, ever give them a reason not to.

We saw a need and filled it. Always keep an ear out for friends and family gripes about what they don't like to do or what they wish they had available to them. If one person wants it, many more do also.

[jtown1010]

This was a fantastic read, thanks to everyone for posting stories and thoughts, that was one of the most enjoyable hours I have ever spent reading an online poker forum.

I guess I can add my "struggle for success" story, despite it not being finished. I'm 25 right now, I started my journey into the "real world" in typical fasion. I Went to an out-of-state school, and probably focused more on having fun than on my education. I did fairly well, but I was uninspired to pursue my education after my freshman year. My family was having financial problems, and an expensive school was too much burden. I decided to transfer to a local community college for my 2nd year, and got a job as a server at a fairly upscale restaurant. After about 1 and 1/2 years I saved some money to move into my own place and got my Associates degree.

It wasn't long before I realised working, going to school, and balancing a healthy social life was a real-life situation. I got myself into debt, alienated a lot of my friends, and was performing poorly in school. I made the decision to take a year off from school and work hard and save money.

That year became a few years, and my job as a waiter was not getting me where I wanted to be financially. I started to look into other job opportunities, and made a commitment to myself to get back in school.

That was about 2 years ago, and I've been working hard on getting my degree since then. I've had a lot of various jobs over the years, I haven't made very much money, but I've always been happy trying to accommplish all the goals I set in life. I may not be well-off financially, but I live a comfortable life.

[Sofisdad]

jtown, you sound like you have the spirit to keep fighting for what you want in life. Set short term goals that are achievable and work your butt off to achieve them. Talk to the restaurant manager and owner about how they got where they are. Ask them how they achieved their goals. Show your interest in moving up and learning all you can about where you are at and they'll start paying a lot more attention to you when positions open up.

[faststeady]

one of the things i like about this thread is the humility and graciousness displayed by all. there is no big-headedness from those that have achieved and there is real drive in those that are striving to.