AMA self made millionaire before 30, and a guy whos company will gross $10 mil 2017

[jujuB]

i miss you brah, very glad everything is going well. happy for you! <3

[Gizzyhardcore]

I can prob answer questions for today while im working. Dont have time to answer them for 4-5 days like I use to. Please no PM's.

negged.

OP's a *******, looking for attention.

You can post a pic but can't give a 2 sentence intro?

"Hi I started XXX company YYY years ago, we sell such and such product / service. Revenue is up ZZZZ% and this year we will gross $10m"

happy to take questions and provide advice!

[SeymourGains]

what are your thoughts on the idea of freewill being an illusion and we were always going to make the same choices in life given the same situation and past experiences? i know you have relatives that have done very well so it could be said "its in your blood" just like how some people think being a loser can be in someones blood

[Gizzyhardcore]

negged.

OP's a *******, looking for attention.

You can post a pic but can't give a 2 sentence intro?

"Hi I started XXX company YYY years ago, we sell such and such product / service. Revenue is up ZZZZ% and this year we will gross $10m"

happy to take questions and provide advice!

sorry OP, you mean well, neg me back LOL

[Kalmah6661]

sorry OP, you mean well, neg me back LOL

Yeah, I'm sure your 2368 rep points really hurt.

[katya422]

id give up a lot and live a normal life to be 100% healthy, yes. But at least i know if something happens to me, all my loved ones will be fine.

gjdm

[ShayZ]

Damn, congrats on all the success.

How old were you when you started this business? You did you learn how to run a business?

So my first ever business was around Age 9, was making $200 a week by the time I was 12 selling Candy in School. Had anime sites and was making $10,000 a month by the time I was 16 or so. Grossed my first illion around 17 or 18, and lost everything by the time I was 19. Trial and error

Back to ask another question.

I've got a great job, I won't be leaving until I retire, and even then I'd probably work part time to keep myself active. That said, I have always wanted to be involved in owning a small business. I feel like I am on the opposite side from a lot of other people because I don't have a whole bunch of time or an idea on where to start. What I do have however is a strong understanding of financials and a fair amount of money I could invest.

The question: Assuming I wanted to go 50/50 with someone in a business where I provide quite a bit of funding, deal with the taxes/accounting, but only perhaps 25% of the typical business "load" where would I look to find someone such as yourself?
Is there somewhere you frequent where you talk with others who are doing similar things?

These days it is hard to trust other people's work ethic or how willing they are to miss out on a few hours of sleep to get some schit done. I'd want someone to be fairly dedicated if I was going to drop 100k+ into an endeavour.

If thats your idea, dont do it. You are hoping someone else has the work ethic to make you rich. Lol, it isnt happening. You know how many hedge fund managers and VC's invest into company's? A shi.t ton... You know how often they get burned? A hell of a lot more often that they are successful. If only you knew how many VC's ask for in business plans before the invest. Its no joke.

do you think there is still money to be made by flipping off alibaba to ebay/amazon?

"follow your passion" or "follow the money" ?

what age did you start at?

what advice would you give yourself when you first started?

I followed the money but now, I LOVE what I do. It has become my passion.
Make sure to fail. Without failure, you will never appreciate your successes.

Hi OP,
Been watching you for sometime. I started a side hustle in writing through the misc 6 years ago. It's been a great run, and I'm at the point where I want to grow. I'm not profiting anywhere nearly as much as you, but my business model seems like it can be even more profitable if i can figure out how to expand my reach.

Right now I am 100% referral based. More than 95 percent of my customers each year are retained clients. I've figured out a niche of people that tend to use me the most, but all of those customers were because I tapped into a couple social networks. I want to figure out how to keep doing this at scale. Do you have any recommendations ?

Refer to sig for side hustle

Hire someone to do your job. Id never have grown if I didnt give up the reigns. No one will ever do it as good as you, but theyll do it.

how much are your business expenses compared to your sales meaning net income

We net 13% after everything

How do you compete with Chinese companies that sell probably the same parts as you directly in amazon etc.

Have your ever seen your supplier selling directly ?

I dont compete with them. I dont even bother. My suppliers dont sell directly, but if they did I dont care. I stay in my own lane. There is a big enough market for everyone

Congratz bro. I have to say though, 60 hours a week seems really much. Don't you think you should dedicate a good amount of free time to actually enjoy the money? Hope you will retire early and leave this company behind you

We all gun make it!

I enjoy my weekends, I enjoy the days. I only work 60 hrs right now. Come October Ill prob scale back to 25

op if you read this, I am grateful for the eBay threads years back. I rarely go on the misc anymore so funny to see you post here today.

I was lucky to find it right after high school graduation and decided to pursue entrepreneurship (ecom was a good direction to get into ) instead of the traditional route.

Now I am supporting my parents and life is 10/10

Thanks brah

Dude thats awesome. My favorite part is the parents thing. Yea man!

have your health issues improved?

They are stable right now. My skins still ripping. My lungs have gotten a little better.

No questions, just posting to say good job buddy. You got off your ass, took a chance in on something, put in work and it payed off. I love hearing these kind of self made stories.

Thanks man

Hey brah, great to hear of your continued success!

Can you recommend me a solid website designer/developer? Who are you using on upwork? I know there are a ton but I need to build a site for my biz in the $500-3k range and looking for someone who can vouch for a developer.

Thx brah, keep up the good work!

Id give you mine but hes wrapped up for a while. Seriously just post the job, youll get so many replies and they all post the work theyve done. Find someone who matches the style you are going for. Its not a one size fits all.

Gj op. Reading stuff like this on the misc is what has really inspired me to be an entrepreneur.

I've launched/been working on my own website for about 2.5 weeks now and just got my first sale which was close to $80 profit, feels good mane

We're all gonna make it

Heck yea man. We all start somewhere. Keep it up

What's your end goal? Planning on retiring in X amount of years, knowing you can live off a steady income stream or what you've already made?

Id like to retire by 45 or so. No true end goal, as I do enjoy working. So maybe even keep the company but in a limited role and run it that way. Depends on how big we get. One of my competitors has outgrown us, and I am mirin. I am now trying to figure out how I can top them. They ahve far exceeded what I have done, but they used millions in VC funding. We've done everything without a penny of debt or funding. So I am not jealous, just mirin. But Ill outplay them. Ive got some tricks up my sleeves.

Really awesome ShayZ, hope your health continues on strong like your business
Always a pleasure to see successful miscers

Thanks boss.

damn how much returns are u doing and why? Work on this to increase profit margin.

Also brah, u say my thread about getting mugged and beat for my phone, can u send me am iphone 7plus cover pls? Sure it cost u a few dollars.

thx

We get about 5% returns. we pay retail for any phones. We dont buy phones nor sell them. DIfferent market.

havent read whole thread yet but which age did you make ur first milly?

18 or so, lost it all.

did you start your business by bulk purchasing, dropshipping, or a mix of both?

and best wishes with your health brah. i strongly believe in mind over matter so continue with the positivity.

bulk purchasing.

what would you tell someone with an entrepreneur mentality but doesn't know which niche to get involved in? Or someone who has a strong passion for a market that is super saturated (fitness) and wants to monetize it? Did you have a passion for what you did or just have a passion for making money? Do you base your success solely on how much money you make or how many people you help?
I need to start something before i enroll in a university, so i have a good excuse not to waste all the money and time on an education that is not going to get me where i want to be.

Who cares if a market is saturated. Just do you. Find a few customers and grow. Set yourself apart. My company doesnt compete on price. We want to be the cadillac of phone parts suppliers. We do things differently.

How much money did you initially need to start your business? Asking to see if someone in my position could do this.

edit: Oh **** its ShayZ, misc lyfe brah!!

$3,000

he said 17 in a different thread. related to taking over some Animae Internet portal I think. ended up losing it all at 19 from spending

this

Mirin hard dont know if its been asked yet what age do u plan on retiring?
Have ppl treated u differently because of your success?

DUnno if Ill retire, I enjoy working. No, people treat me the same. But then again I am not flashy. I am very down to earth. Plus I dont tell people how well my companys do in real life. I just tell them what I do, thats all.

How hard was it to get started?

How much did it cost to get started?

Do you have any life or business mottos? Advice?

What's the hardest part about running a business?

$3,000. Easy, hardest part is knowing now that everyone depends on me. I cant let my staff down. And I want to see all of them grow with the company into amazing positions.

i miss you brah, very glad everything is going well. happy for you! <3

miss you too. want you back.

what are your thoughts on the idea of freewill being an illusion and we were always going to make the same choices in life given the same situation and past experiences? i know you have relatives that have done very well so it could be said "its in your blood" just like how some people think being a loser can be in someones blood

ive got relatives who are complete bums and losers as well. I mean my dad has failed at multiple businesses, and so has my mom. I have failed too numerous times. Pick yourself up, and do it better next time

sorry OP, you mean well, neg me back LOL

Lol I was like did he even read the thread and how many peopled I replied to? Lol, its cool man.

[CestLaVida]

How'd you lose 1mill at 18? Splurging, bad investments or what?

[Phobaphobia]

Are you invested in the crypto market? Which coins?

Any advice on picking a good niche to sell from AliExpress? I went very hard my first time trying but failed. Is paid ads the way to go, or social media marketing better for someone just trying to make their first few initial sales?

[Wh1teDyn0mite]

Good job pal,

Losing a million must be a weird feeling.

I do my nut in if i lose a tenner.

[GainzMcgee]

well, it started on ebay. But the transition to my own ecommerce had led to the highest profits and growth

Seems like a smart idea, ebay is on its way out. Sometimes timing is everything...

[meenman83]

Hypothetically speaking you sign a non-compete but it wasn't notarized by a neutral party, and they said your non-compete is a 500 mile radius & for 5 years but the 500 mile radius goes into another state but that state doesn't recognize the non-compete. So you get fired breaking the non-compete (actually helping a regular customer who spent hundreds a week save $40 on something but still spent the $40 on something else instead) but then the employer fails to pay within the state regulated time frame for your final pay check. A) does him failing to pay within the state mandated time frame make the non-compete null n void B) having a non-neutral party notarizing the non-compete make it null n void C) can I open up a same styled shop but in a neighboring state without him trying to sue as the non-compete isn't a valid legal document as it was from a different state?

[MinisterOfLust]

Seems like a smart idea, ebay is on its way out. Sometimes timing is everything...

This. It is so hard to make a living off Ebay now compare to the old days.

[Sinergy2010]

SHAYZ been showing off that bankroll for years mayne. More props to him but hes made a few of these threads.

[ShayZ]

How'd you lose 1mill at 18? Splurging, bad investments or what?

splurging. And a horrible investment in a restaurant

Are you invested in the crypto market? Which coins?

Any advice on picking a good niche to sell from AliExpress? I went very hard my first time trying but failed. Is paid ads the way to go, or social media marketing better for someone just trying to make their first few initial sales?

No, although I feel dumb for not being in Bitcoin.

Good job pal,

Losing a million must be a weird feeling.

I do my nut in if i lose a tenner.

yea, its weird nowdays. I can go gamble, lose a stack or two and give zero fuks.

Seems like a smart idea, ebay is on its way out. Sometimes timing is everything...

yep

Hypothetically speaking you sign a non-compete but it wasn't notarized by a neutral party, and they said your non-compete is a 500 mile radius & for 5 years but the 500 mile radius goes into another state but that state doesn't recognize the non-compete. So you get fired breaking the non-compete (actually helping a regular customer who spent hundreds a week save $40 on something but still spent the $40 on something else instead) but then the employer fails to pay within the state regulated time frame for your final pay check. A) does him failing to pay within the state mandated time frame make the non-compete null n void B) having a non-neutral party notarizing the non-compete make it null n void C) can I open up a same styled shop but in a neighboring state without him trying to sue as the non-compete isn't a valid legal document as it was from a different state?

open a shop up. Lots of issue with the non compete, and if its across state laws he will have a hard time holding it up

This. It is so hard to make a living off Ebay now compare to the old days.

def

SHAYZ been showing off that bankroll for years mayne. More props to him but hes made a few of these threads.

its been about 5 yrs mayne

[Luc1fer]

OP:

[SavageBrah84]

get me uggs and iPad bb

[Moloholo]

Yo ShayZ, not sure if you remember me from a few months back or so when you made a similar thread. Thanks for replying my PMs and stuff. Always good to read threads and advices from successful miscers.

No questions, just learning. Keep trucking brah, may your health always be in your favor.

[lolwhatthefuk]

Ever had to trick a company that you aren't selling on amazon or running a from home business or internet business? If so how did you go about it? Found a BIG NICHE

[BenficaSS289]

****....I havent been on the misc in so long and then this **** pops up, twilight zone...6-7 years ago the misc was prime.

ShayZ, GJDM...hard work pays off....now, in4reps.

[Purostaff]

how long do you see yourself doing this or did you ever get the urge to go back on dat dere corporate grind time?

nevertheless, gjdm... best of luck with your health

[dogorman7]

Can i borrow some money please, the amount i NEED is chump change to you. Spread some love brother.

[digital022]

Do you think you've hired well and built a team that will help you get to that next level

[Rayaarito]

Every mistake is a blessing. No mistakes, only accidents which I learned from

Love this.

Just came in here to say congrats on your continued success. I remember your very first AMA thread. We had a few miscers back then make it. I forget the other guys name but he bought a few postal routes and it ended up becoming something VERY big. And then another miscer who made it big off of his Oatmeal company that he eventually sold. Within the next two year I'm starting my own thing, I hope to make it where you are. Maybe we can have an official miscer platinum membership hang out as soon as I make it ;-)

[edit]
I just remembered the postal guys name, kind of. It was Dave something. His avi was him, in a black shirt, red bandanna covering the bottom half of his face with black sunglasses and a hat

[Tulonix]

Would you be interested in expanding your business overseas? i.e. the UK/Europe?

If not, would you mentor me?

You are an inspiration. Thanks

[gottk2x]

millions of dollars are kewl but how's those workout logs that you used to do...still going?

[DrunkNinjaMastr]

I'm Jelly. Makes me think of when I was in my early 20's. My first IT job was working for a subcontractor that serviced Dell and *** PC's and laptops. I would go out on service calls, diagnose the problem with the laptop/PC, and they would send me the replacement part for it. I got pretty good at diagnosing the actual problem, so I actually started buying broken laptops from people on Craigslist for pennies. I usually made a profit just from selling the LCD. If the LCD was broken, I didn't even bother the buy it. But if I had a solid working LCD, I would sell that and make an immediate profit, then I would strip the laptop of it's working parts and sell them individually on Ebay. It was good for extra cash. I got frauded so many times that I stopped, because like you said earlier, someone can ship a rock back to you and your sale would be refunded.

[CrimsonSteel]

Any marketing advice to share?

[Mullahz218]

super inspiring stuff

would you say that interpersonal communication skills were a big part of your success? I mean, do you have to be likable to make it big? if some guy comes to you and wants a job/mentoring/to go into business with you, what criterias do you use to judge him?

[MuckSnapper]

not how it works.
But heres some of what I paid federal and state last month. We also pay monthly to lessen end of year taxes. This right here is over $300,000 paid in taxes. Plus like I said we have to do monthly payments to lower tax bills. The $53,000 disbursements are for savings. hence they go into a suntrust investment account. I wouldnt be moving $106,000 into investment accounts right after taxes if I wasnt making it
[img]https://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8644551&d=1494541346[/img

Wait, did you really not get the reference? lol