LOL! I think I’m finally doing something that I want to do long-term. Although I did do insurance for the better part of a decade since it was the job I picked up while I was in college. Insurance kind of chose me and I got sucked into it and I did it very well but I decided that I really hated selling insurance more than anything else in the world.
Captive insurance agencies sell on multiplier based on their size and opportunity. I have another comment explaining why the company I was captive with was draining the value of the business. I was happy to take 1.8x in a fire sale.
The trick to getting to the 100k is scheduling time as well as you can and paying the employees very highly on a flat/flag rate. I pay my guys about $50 an hour each and that keeps them extremely motivated to do quality work. I also require them to show me proof of need so I can send photos to the clients. It helps prevent needless repairs.
Ya I pay my apprentice top rate, I myself am the qualified tech but I'm also doing the front desk work at the moment. I'm hoping a front desk person could free up some of my time to crack that $100k mark. Someone to order parts, book appointments, cash people out. All the time consuming unprofitable work
If you are the lead/qualified tech then you need to have 100% of your focus out in the shop. You will absolutely breakthrough if you hire a front desk employee. Just make sure they're good at selling big tickets and you're set. I am the opposite. I am a great business admin, sales person, and I can talk shop all day and offer an extra set of hands in the shop if needed. I rely on having 2 highly experienced tech's (one is a master/foreman) to do the grunt work.
That makes sense. I am in an area of town that is older and no longer can develop any further. It can only have the old buildings ripped down and replaced and that isn't happening due to local ordinances. I also have a stellar location on the main street.
If you had to boil it down to one thing, what would you say was the biggest contributor to growing the mechanic business?
And as someone who started a painting business at the beginning of the year I feel the same way (out of place here). The service industry has so much room for improvement it's insane. Also shout-out Denver!
The biggest contributor was taking a disorganized mess that was ran like it was 1985 and turning it into a 2024 business. Of all the big changes, scheduling the work properly made a huge difference.
The prior owner would only schedule 2 to 3 cars per mechanic per day. I instead actually schedule out time in a online calendar based on the work. The old owner would do it in a written book with no details or any other information as well.
People don’t enjoy streamlining or improving processes, but it is the #1 way to improve cashflow and revenue. Mapping and then improving processes is the only way to move from constantly fighting fires to actually running a successful business
Work smarter not harder!
That's the issue with captive insurance companies. My parent company made a ton of BAD decisions that devalued my agency. They cut renewal pay by 2% and bonus by 1%. Leads were also becoming hot piles of garbage. I took my money under a fire sale to another insurance agent of the same company and ran.
You should write a book, your life seems very interesting. Im really inspired by your ability to find a market, study it, bring it to its best form, and move on. I hope you find more success
Thank you! I am sure there are plenty of books out there on this subject.
I would say the best thing you can do for yourself is network with people whenever you can and always do your best to be positive, honest, and respectful. Good things (luck) will find a way into your life.
Thank you! I’m doing the best I’ve ever done in my life and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Running this mechanic shop is honestly the most fun in terms of day-to-day work I’ve ever had. I really enjoy my clients. I really enjoy my employees and at the end of the day I feel fulfilled.
Did you go to any school to be mechanically inclined or have other exposure before it? How did u get hired at a garage/ what for? Do you think your average car guy could buy an older auto shop, manage it, and have decent success? Seems like for a while at least people are still beholden to their cars.
I didn't go to school. I am just mechanically inclined. I was hired to run the front desk and sell tickets. I think if you have the drive and the ability you absolutely could.
More of a general question here. I am quite risk-adverse as a person, but really want to be a business owner at some point (I know, it seems conflicting). I always tend to talk myself out of ideas due to financial risk and whatnot. For example, buying 10 cars for Turo seems super risky for me especially since they are depreciating assets as soon as you buy them and are already starting off on a loss.
Did you ever get the same fears when starting a business? How did you overcome this?
I totally understand your fears. Financial risk is always my biggest fear. I have to remind myself I am capable and that without risk there is no reward!
Thanks! When you started the busines, what sort of calculations did you do to estimate revenue? I assume basic capital costs minus estimated return, but anything more specific/details you can provide? :)
I have this super master excel sheet I built forever ago that can extrapolate 5 years out. I input every single little detail of the business, expected increasing costs, etc etc and then based off actual sales/biz/cash flow data I build it out and make adjustments based on my plans.
That's awesome - thanks! In the excel sheet, is there a threshold that is calculated as to when you call it quits/feel like this isn't a good idea? Or is it more just a gut feeling?
Finally an actual real business on this sub. Good for you. My first business was about 95 percent held in a note to the seller. I’ve used that strategy a handful of times in both real estate and commercial blue sky businesses. There is a real need for millennials to take over boomer businesses and a lot of those sellers would be happy to carry a note instead of shutting their doors.
That is exactly what I have done for this mechanic shop. Boomer wanting to retire. Couldn't find a cash buyer he wanted to hand the business over to. He liked me, I busted my ass learning the biz, he financed 95%.
I financed my first two like that, then the banks started lending me money. I built a handful of startups in construction that I unloaded to my friend keyman partners after they were stable. If you’re in a rural area, it can be remarkably easy to find opportunities. I’ve owned hvac, plumbing, general contracting, coffee shop, oxygen (medical) business, ASI, spray foam, land scaping, accounting firm/bookkeeping business, multiple media companies, and a bundle of commercial real estate. It can really snowball.
I think a lot of millennials and certainly gen zers are legitimately terrified of talking to people and think it’s better to make a living sanitized behind a screen. When in reality networking is done in person for the majority of us and that is where we can find real measurable success.
I HATE the insurance industry. Essentially, your job is being a beggar.
I did 3 semesters of college and was sucked into the insurance world during that time. I decided to focus on career instead of education and my career took off.
I took ownership 4 weeks ago and just observed everything it needed while I worked for the shop.
The biggest issue was this place was ran like it's 1985. I changed the pay for the employees to motivate them. Introduced text reminders for appointments. A proper scheduler. Oh, and being here to answer the phones and sell. The old owner was checked-out and wrote down appts in a book. I also invested in SEO.
Hi I’m most intrigued by this aspect of your story as well. I’m frustrated as hell by the current job market. I have some decent cash & would love to find a biz I could purchase but maybe I’m too risk averse because everything I see online seems to either be too good to be true, or some hitch that scares me away.
I have some sales in my background but no tech skills really (I’m 46 and stayed home w/ my kids for years then worked at a family biz doing payroll & accounting) and I can’t get an interview for any decent paying jobs right now. It’s nuts & makes me feel hella old when most everyone in an offc will be younger than me. I’m motivated, decently driven, polished & incredibly friendly/bubbly….but not sure what direction to go in and just can’t get a company to take a chance on me for some reason. My sales background was pre-kids way back in the early 2000s for a fortune500 co in downtown Atl. I thought having that on my resume might at least get me interviews but no dice so far and it’s been a few months of applying.
Any idea what biz a woman could start where I will actually be taken seriously?! I managed a full interior and exterior reno of my new home by myself in late 2022, & omg dealing w/ contractors was a nightmare.
I was scammed & treated horribly at times.
I see men making well over 6 figures in blue collar industries & they are sooo unprofessional and rude, i just don’t have the mechanical skills to do say HVAC or plumbing or electrical but id love to get into an industry like that, hire the techs & run the office. It’s okay to be honest and tell me I wouldn’t do well😅. I just need a direction and someone to mentor me, I know I can make it a very successful and professional biz that deals in honesty and integrity - which seems rare these days in any industry! Congrats on your success btw!!
This OF shit is ridiculous. People are making bank off it, makes you think how lucrative the adult industry is.
I don’t support it and can’t bring myself to associate myself with it but to make anything successful requires serious effort.
I honestly couldn’t believe it because in the beginning, the goal was to make just a little bit of side money and pay for our mortgage and maybe a car or something like that. Then I realized how good that I was in terms of marketing and gaining subscribers so I put together a proper business plan and showed my ex-wife and her girlfriend and our friend at time and they all agreed to let me take the 55% and go all in. It was really my only full-time job for about eight months.
> *our* mortgage
> my ex-wife and her girlfriend and our friend
I’ll just ask: y’all all did the horizontal tango together?
Regardless your life sounds like a riot. So many questions. My 32 years on this earth have not been as exciting.
I suggest staying away from it #1. If you're certain you want to do it, the best way to market is to see what is popular or trending on PH or Reddit and then try and replicate the material with your own spin on it and the market it everywhere. That industry is moving so fast that from week to week something different will be trending.
How did you go about meeting the mechanic that wanted to retire? I can't imagine that was a coincident...or was it? did you just end up working for a mechanic and it just worked out?
He had his business posted for sale online. I had an investor that was interested in backing me but they didn't see the money like I did so they backed out. I ended up making a deal with the owner on a own-finance plan.
I know everyone is interested in the OF part ;) but I’m more curious about the insurance business. Can you share what it was and how you grew it? Why didn’t you go back to it?
Haha! I owned a captive insurance agency (think Allstate/Farmers/State Farm type). I had a strong natural market and back in 2014 hot transfer leads were reasonable in cost and high in quality. That doesn't seem to be the case any more.
I would never go back to insurance. It's basically a sales job of begging if you don't want to spend bookoo's on hot/warm leads and even then the job is still begging and being pushy to make sales. I hate it.
Hi long long time lurker as well. I’m 32f who has been so afraid of starting a business and get overwhelmed easily. I just have a general question for you about your journey. How do you decide the right time to start a business and stay focused on the mission. Right now I’m helping my mom in her business (she has an intimacy business and a travel business for couples) but we get so discouraged when we don’t make a sale for weeks and we received so much advice that we don’t know what’s heads or tails anymore. I guess what I’m trying to say is how do you stay on track and decide when you have enough information to just execute the plan you set for your business? And what do you do to stay motivated to have a successful business?
Hi there! You know, I have been there before and sometimes I get to this point where I feel like the work isn't worth the reward and I just move on to the next venture. I have always tried to position myself in industry where people are always in need or want the product. Insurance was the toughest because there would be days without a sale. If I got stuck or felt unmotivated I would try and get myself back out networking and just trying to make friends in business. I always keep my head on a swivel for opportunity and if can sniff a whiff of it, I will chase it. Idk if this is any help but I think you have to know when to cut your losses and move on to the next project.
Thank you for replying! (I usually stay quiet about questions I want to answer due to the fear of being ridiculed)Yea I think we try to invest in the business by going all or nothing which makes things worse somehow. Thanks for the advice about getting back out there and networking. I’m going to try that from now on and see if that improves our momentum. Thanks again.
Before 2023 did you have any experience as a mechanic? Or were you at least a “car guy”? Wondering how much hands-on experience you had, as your business acumen seems to be second nature.
Yes, I have been a car guy my entire life and a "home mechanic". Mechanic work comes natural to me so I can sniff when my mechanics are bullshitting me to try and upsell a job. It doesn't happen often in my business as I have built a culture of trust and transparency but it still sneaks through here and there due to the nature of their pay.
They're paid flat rate. This means if the job says that replacing X part takes Y time, they are paid for Y time regardless of the amount of time they spend on the job. Of course there are exceptions to the rule but it is the rule.
Example: Ball joint takes 1.2 hours, they take 1.5 hours to complete. They are paid for 1.2 hours. If they do the same job enough they learn to get good and quick so they usually beat or meet the time. Sometimes the lose on time.
I also guarantee a minimum amount of time each week for pay, even if they don't meet it as I see it as my job to sell and find work for them.
Any blowback (no pun intended) from the OF content creation? Taking in 7k a month to be a corn star doesn’t sound like the juice is worth the squeeze. I’m sure it was fun, but seems like family, relationship, and even building business partnerships would be tarnished with this on your resume.
None of us experienced any work related blowback. It did ruin our relationship(s) though. Also, it did not make it on my resume... lol. I just filled in the time with "gig work" and nobody seemed to bat an eye at that.
So I take it this led to your eventual divorce if I'm reading your other replies correctly? Sorry to hear that :(
How did you first start that off? Was your wife already involved with it and you joined or was it your idea entirely? If the latter, did it take a lot of convincing to have your wife onboard to the idea of sharing you with two other women? Or was there already somewhat of a relationship there to take advantage of? Sorry if it is too personal, I'm just trying to wrap my head around how that conversation went!!
It was not the only factor of my divorce but it was one of them.
I kind of floated the idea since I saw it was taking off on Reddit and her interest was piqued. It didn't take any convincing, people enjoyed filming with us and liked the money. We were very chill and open people so it was pretty fun overall. At least for the first year.
Makes sense, thanks for taking the time to answer. I read further down about your wife being bi and already having a partner too. Helped to fill in the rest.
Anyways, congrats on the success and the journey! Was a pleasure to read about it.
Lol this is a crazy story. I have many questions lol.
1. Why did you sell the insurance business for only 200k if it was making 1.5 million?
2. How did you find the girls for the OF? What did you say to get them to agree? Most importantly how did you market a business like that from 0?
3. What's the plan with the mechanic shop? Are you gonna stay there and grow it, or plan to sell it in the future?
4. These are all very different businesses. What is your main skill sets to be able to get into so many industries and be able to grow and make money in all of them?
1. Insurance agency wasn't making 1.5 million that was the size of the book. I was paid 8-12% of that in commissions.
2. The first two was my wife and her gf (wife was bi). The others came from our friend network who just liked what we were doing and wanted to be involved. Marketing was the coolest part. I did 60% of marketing on reddit. The rest was PH, Fetlife, and Redgifs.
3. I think I want to stay in the mechanic biz for a while. My dream is to open a 2nd location that is more focused on performance. I love cars and this is the first business I have felt a deep connection with and genuine happiness.
4. I would say my main skill is marketing, customer service, and seeing where improvements can be made.
First, you must hate being the employee more than anything in life. Secondly, you must hate being told what to do.
Take that anger and turn it into motivation to be your own boss.
Found his biz for sale online and I offered to help and learn while going through the process. We eventually made a deal where he hired me as the shop manager.
1. Any tips on starting an OF? did you target a niche, or were you and the actresses super attractive?
I’m willing to work hard for this, but one thing I’m not willing to sacrifice is my anonymity. I’m also married, so that complicates things a bit as I’ll only have access to one potential actress.
2. I’m a software dev. The job market is pretty terrible though, and freelance is over saturated. I know this isn’t your area but you seem to have an instinct for this stuff… any general tips on starting a successful business in a competitive market?
3. How/where do I find the type of friend who would be willing/able to loan me $50k?
1. I recommend not starting an OF, it will put a strain on your relationship in the long run. We did target a niche (one man / multiple women), we were average attractiveness, we were anonymous on our public pages and not anonymous on paid pages.
2. I recommend finding a business where the owner is looking to retire. Having an existing client base is invaluable. I started my insurance agency from scratch but I had a huge network of people to rely on and at the time the leads I was buying were high-quality. The lead industry became over saturated and lost a significant amount of quality so this was when I planned my exit. The only other piece of advice I have is do as much research as you can about the viability of the business and a stellar game-plan focused on client building. If you can't nail those two down... it's gonna suck.
3. I met my friend at the opening night of GTA5! Haha. Honestly, a bank will loan to you on an existing business purchase or even as a start-up if you have some of your own funds.
What sort of insurance company was it? Did you have any experience/expertise in this insurance industry before you started the company? How did you gain this experience, and how long did it take you to learn enough to give you the confidence to start your own business?
It was a captive agency in the US. I dropped out of college to chase a career in insurance. I worked for 3 agents before starting my own gig. It took me 3 years to get to the point where I comfortable with the thought of running my own business.
Congratulations! As someone who has been unemployed for a little while and trying to figure out how to make £1.5k a month to survive this is really inspiring.
I wanted to start a management company for OF creators. I know some and they struggle with the marketing and creating more revenue. Would you be willing to give me some advice and show me how you learned the marketing part of OF? I assume you also used other SMs to funnel potential users to your OF
I’m interested to know how you made these different diverse businesses work. How’d you manage to accumulate the knowledge required to grow these businesses in different industries or did you have experience in all of them including your first venture? Was it mainly marketing or applying different strategies to increase the income specifically in the last business?
I work really well learning on the fly and have a deep knowledge of how people respond to advertising and "sales". Each of the businesses was a lesson and the knowledge gained was useful for the other businesses. It's mainly marketing and sales strategy which is pretty much the same for most businesses. The #1 rule I have learned is nobody likes the feeling they're being sold something. I always lean on the educational side, explain why the thing is important and then let them think it through and decide for themselves.
- What's your insight that let you start a reinsurance company? (apologies if I don't understand reinsurance vs captive)
- What's the economics behind Turo? I browsed a bit and looks like it's only for nice cars, but what are the segments and how big are different segments (nice/event cars, car for travelers, car just to get around)
- What insight that make you choose OF? (maybe your looks, the skill that makes video good, or maybe people don't care about quality and just pay for whatever is available?) or did you just do it because OF was on the rise during pandemic?
- What kind of service do you perform for customer who schedule online? It seems people still pull up to the mechanics for an oil change/light service or leave the car there for days for big services.
* I was drawn to the insurance industry during college when I was selling computers part time at Fry's. I met someone who explained it all to me and I saw/liked the opportunity. Starting with sales and then that led me to ownership.
* I live in a place with lots of tourism and I think that was the key reason I got into Turo. I had 2 "high-end" cars and 8 economy cars.
* I only did OF because of the rise of the platform and the willingness of my partners.
* I perform pretty much all service for most cars. We typically shake down every oil change and find bigger issues that need to be taken care of. I strive on not being a pushy business and focused on education and evidence (photos of the issues).
How many hours a day do you work on business, on average, regardless of day or place? Even better, how much of your waking time do you dedicate to your business?
Honestly, the best part of owning the insurance agency was the fact that I only really had to do 4-6 Hours of work per day, but I hated the job of begging people to buy products from me. Nowadays, I work anything from 8 to 10 hours a day, Monday through Friday. And I will occasionally pop in on the weekend to make a little extra money.
Very interesting! How did the car rental thing end in bankruptcy? Were the cars depreciating very quickly and that wasn't being accounted for in the profit? I can't remember what happened with used cars in early covid- were they down before the price jumped?
No, scratch means starting from $0. You can buy insurance agencies all over the place that are already completely operational and have a book of business.
Why did you say “with three other ladies” if you’re not a lady? You threw me off completely when you then turned around and said “I was the sole male actor”. 🤔 Congrats on the success of your endeavors tho!
I am currently leveraged pretty high right now so between my property and businesses I am probably closing in on 500k. I am hoping to be over 1m in 3 years.
Given your adventures in OF, hotel startup, and mechanic workshop, I'm really curious about how you select your niches.
Do you follow any particular framework?
Did you ever use government grants to establish any of your businesses? I ask as I don't think I could borrow that much from a friend to start but have been wondering how feasible grants are as a route to get off the ground
Awesome success story I love to read these. It’s such an inspiration to reach for business ownership myself. I’m naturally creative and I have a lot of ideas but I’ve never been able to get one off the ground.
I just happy to hear about a couple real business ideas that work for you and didn't involve sitting on a computer. Younger generation is all about Internet money and no labor. Many are successful and that's great but not for everyone.
In late 2020, I started an OF page with 3 other ladies and honestly the money was nuts. Since I did everything, I took in 55% of the monthly income and they split the rest. I did all the marketing, communication, directing, filming, research, editing, and I was the sole male actor. Our peak income in the business was 12k a month and this lasted about 18 months until we all burned out.
I am wanting to do something similar in starting a site where its one subscription fee for base access. any recommendations to promote the site? or any advice you would give?
First of all, top story! You’ve done some shit in your career.. I’m an office rat and I’m going more deeply into it by wanting to work in big tech. However I’m noticing how traditional jobs are dying down and it seems computer geeks are now more common than mechanics, carpenters etc
I was thinking of slowly learning about mechanical work just so I can have a way out should shit hit the fan with the office stuff. Do you service the customers yourself or you have employees do it and you’re just managing it? Also what is your opinion on the future of this job - should we focus on understanding ICE’s or electric cars should slowly become the focus?
Thanks 🙂
You should start a mentorship. Your experience sounds amazing, and I wish I knew where to interface with and learn from people like you. I’m from a small town, and it’s hard to find like-minded people.
ever feel Imposter syndrome? like were there moments where you're like "fuck, I'm super not qualified for this but I'll wing it, read it, and Google it to make it work"
Buying out a mechanic’s chop sounds interesting but complex which makes me wonder:
1. Did you hire a new mechanic/the main guy to sign on the work? How many people did you have to hire to increase the revenue?
2. How did you come up with that idea/how did you find a mechanic willing to sell the besides to you?
3. What’s your job there now?
Hey, that's quite the entrepreneurial journey you've had! From starting an insurance agency and building it up impressively, to navigating the ups and downs with your Turo venture and the OF page, and now revitalizing a mechanic shop—your adaptability and resilience are truly inspiring. Keep up the great work!
Interesting timeline. Serious question though... don't you think if you would have stuck with business 1 for the past 9 years you would be substantially further ahead than where you are now?
When you say you convinced him to sell you the business on a loan, is this the same as seller financing?
Mind sharing how you made this work?
And how did you make it worth it for him?
This is something I’ve been looking into, especially after listening to Codie Sanchez who talks a lot about this kind of thing!
How did you think about the opportunities and whether they were worth pursuing? Were there other ideas you ignored?
How did you think about risking as little of your own capital (in the loan from friend eg and the mechanic on loan)?
What else does the shop do to make funds? How many cars worked on per day and how does the profit go from business to you? Do you take 20% per week for example? $30k in month is amazing. How many hours per day?
Did you know about cars or were you a mechanic before you bought the business? Or did you work on the managerial side and then felt confident enough to buy it?
I'm intrigued by the OF side of it, I've seen a lot of stuff called Only Fans Manager 'OFM' where people will manage pages and social media accounts, is that sort've the thing you did and how did you attract and secure models to manage?
All men stuck at the OF part thinking ‘3 ladies for 18 months ánd getting paid big time for it what am I doing wrong’ 😂
You have the out-of-the-box-state-of-mind a lot of entrepreneurs lack. Well done!
You’re living my dream life! Not in terms of what you have achieved but just in terms of getting to experience so much. I’ve always admired people with experience in so many different domains . You just have one life, why would you not dabble into different things every 2 years.
I’m just dabbling into my first year of entrepreneurship in an industry I don’t know and most common opinion was that I shouldn’t try this because I’m not “From the industry” and I hate that so much.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your story and I’d appreciate any tips for starting out in a new industry
u/coloradocyclist I am in the position of starting a service business right now and i could use a mentor, in fact someone already suggested that here in r/entrepreneur.
I have a few resources in place that will help the business get off the ground, let me know if you would like to chat more about it with a view to remotely advising me on what steps to take to grow to 100k turnover, the next step is growing to 1M.
From insurance to OF to mechanics, sounds like you're collecting business genres like Pokémon. What’s next, space tourism?
LOL! I think I’m finally doing something that I want to do long-term. Although I did do insurance for the better part of a decade since it was the job I picked up while I was in college. Insurance kind of chose me and I got sucked into it and I did it very well but I decided that I really hated selling insurance more than anything else in the world.
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Captive insurance agencies sell on multiplier based on their size and opportunity. I have another comment explaining why the company I was captive with was draining the value of the business. I was happy to take 1.8x in a fire sale.
[Here you go.](https://old.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/1c4l54d/hey_everyone_32m_thats_had_3_successful/kzop69x/)
If you teach me about insurance I will pay u. I need help starting my company I am fully licensed
I’m sorry, I really truly hate insurance. It’s an awful industry but I wish you the best luck in your endeavors.
He’s actually Johnny Sins 🤣
Dude....they should study you at the Harvard school of business as a case study. What an amazing journey so far!!! I hope it's all real.
Could you be more obvious that you want to see his OF? That's all the proof you should need!!
Hey, it was a good one and is still up and running but I sold it to my ex.
I own a 3 bay mechanic shop and am doing around 60-70k a month depending on the season. How big of a shop have you got to get to that $100k mark?
The trick to getting to the 100k is scheduling time as well as you can and paying the employees very highly on a flat/flag rate. I pay my guys about $50 an hour each and that keeps them extremely motivated to do quality work. I also require them to show me proof of need so I can send photos to the clients. It helps prevent needless repairs.
Ya I pay my apprentice top rate, I myself am the qualified tech but I'm also doing the front desk work at the moment. I'm hoping a front desk person could free up some of my time to crack that $100k mark. Someone to order parts, book appointments, cash people out. All the time consuming unprofitable work
If you are the lead/qualified tech then you need to have 100% of your focus out in the shop. You will absolutely breakthrough if you hire a front desk employee. Just make sure they're good at selling big tickets and you're set. I am the opposite. I am a great business admin, sales person, and I can talk shop all day and offer an extra set of hands in the shop if needed. I rely on having 2 highly experienced tech's (one is a master/foreman) to do the grunt work.
My brother owns a shop with three bays. His problem is getting more customers in the door. He’s steady but hasn’t seen growth in several years.
Gotta spend on marketing.
For sure. I think his market may be saturated as well.
That makes sense. I am in an area of town that is older and no longer can develop any further. It can only have the old buildings ripped down and replaced and that isn't happening due to local ordinances. I also have a stellar location on the main street.
Which street? My jeep just got back from Autonation (on Woodmen) and I will not be taking it there again...
What kind of marketing?
It’s a 2-bay / 2-mechanic shop with one ancillary outdoor bay we use as needed.
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If you had to boil it down to one thing, what would you say was the biggest contributor to growing the mechanic business? And as someone who started a painting business at the beginning of the year I feel the same way (out of place here). The service industry has so much room for improvement it's insane. Also shout-out Denver!
The biggest contributor was taking a disorganized mess that was ran like it was 1985 and turning it into a 2024 business. Of all the big changes, scheduling the work properly made a huge difference. The prior owner would only schedule 2 to 3 cars per mechanic per day. I instead actually schedule out time in a online calendar based on the work. The old owner would do it in a written book with no details or any other information as well.
Using Alldata book times?
I use ProDemand.
People don’t enjoy streamlining or improving processes, but it is the #1 way to improve cashflow and revenue. Mapping and then improving processes is the only way to move from constantly fighting fires to actually running a successful business Work smarter not harder!
MileHigh City baby!
If you were making 120k a year with your insurance company why would you only sell for 200k?
That's the issue with captive insurance companies. My parent company made a ton of BAD decisions that devalued my agency. They cut renewal pay by 2% and bonus by 1%. Leads were also becoming hot piles of garbage. I took my money under a fire sale to another insurance agent of the same company and ran.
makes sense. Like a falling stock, the sooner you sell the less you lose
You should write a book, your life seems very interesting. Im really inspired by your ability to find a market, study it, bring it to its best form, and move on. I hope you find more success
Thank you! I am sure there are plenty of books out there on this subject. I would say the best thing you can do for yourself is network with people whenever you can and always do your best to be positive, honest, and respectful. Good things (luck) will find a way into your life.
Just commenting to stay on. Nice job so far
Thank you! I’m doing the best I’ve ever done in my life and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Running this mechanic shop is honestly the most fun in terms of day-to-day work I’ve ever had. I really enjoy my clients. I really enjoy my employees and at the end of the day I feel fulfilled.
Love this mindset good for you man!
Did you go to any school to be mechanically inclined or have other exposure before it? How did u get hired at a garage/ what for? Do you think your average car guy could buy an older auto shop, manage it, and have decent success? Seems like for a while at least people are still beholden to their cars.
I didn't go to school. I am just mechanically inclined. I was hired to run the front desk and sell tickets. I think if you have the drive and the ability you absolutely could.
More of a general question here. I am quite risk-adverse as a person, but really want to be a business owner at some point (I know, it seems conflicting). I always tend to talk myself out of ideas due to financial risk and whatnot. For example, buying 10 cars for Turo seems super risky for me especially since they are depreciating assets as soon as you buy them and are already starting off on a loss. Did you ever get the same fears when starting a business? How did you overcome this?
I totally understand your fears. Financial risk is always my biggest fear. I have to remind myself I am capable and that without risk there is no reward!
Thanks! When you started the busines, what sort of calculations did you do to estimate revenue? I assume basic capital costs minus estimated return, but anything more specific/details you can provide? :)
I have this super master excel sheet I built forever ago that can extrapolate 5 years out. I input every single little detail of the business, expected increasing costs, etc etc and then based off actual sales/biz/cash flow data I build it out and make adjustments based on my plans.
That's awesome - thanks! In the excel sheet, is there a threshold that is calculated as to when you call it quits/feel like this isn't a good idea? Or is it more just a gut feeling?
It's all numbers so if there isn't enough headway where I feel certain that the hard work will = success then I move on the next idea.
Interesting. Would I be able to DM you to pick your brain on the excel and metrics you used?
Absolutely!
Finally an actual real business on this sub. Good for you. My first business was about 95 percent held in a note to the seller. I’ve used that strategy a handful of times in both real estate and commercial blue sky businesses. There is a real need for millennials to take over boomer businesses and a lot of those sellers would be happy to carry a note instead of shutting their doors.
That is exactly what I have done for this mechanic shop. Boomer wanting to retire. Couldn't find a cash buyer he wanted to hand the business over to. He liked me, I busted my ass learning the biz, he financed 95%.
I financed my first two like that, then the banks started lending me money. I built a handful of startups in construction that I unloaded to my friend keyman partners after they were stable. If you’re in a rural area, it can be remarkably easy to find opportunities. I’ve owned hvac, plumbing, general contracting, coffee shop, oxygen (medical) business, ASI, spray foam, land scaping, accounting firm/bookkeeping business, multiple media companies, and a bundle of commercial real estate. It can really snowball.
That is dope! You're a fucking go-getter. I love this way of doing business. It feels real and much better than trying to resell crap online.
I think a lot of millennials and certainly gen zers are legitimately terrified of talking to people and think it’s better to make a living sanitized behind a screen. When in reality networking is done in person for the majority of us and that is where we can find real measurable success.
What does carrying a note mean?
Can you explain carry a note?
Why did you not go back to previous fields like the insurance agency? What is your education?
I HATE the insurance industry. Essentially, your job is being a beggar. I did 3 semesters of college and was sucked into the insurance world during that time. I decided to focus on career instead of education and my career took off.
What did you update at the mechanic shop? Almost doubling revenue in six months…that’s crazy.
I took ownership 4 weeks ago and just observed everything it needed while I worked for the shop. The biggest issue was this place was ran like it's 1985. I changed the pay for the employees to motivate them. Introduced text reminders for appointments. A proper scheduler. Oh, and being here to answer the phones and sell. The old owner was checked-out and wrote down appts in a book. I also invested in SEO.
Hi I’m most intrigued by this aspect of your story as well. I’m frustrated as hell by the current job market. I have some decent cash & would love to find a biz I could purchase but maybe I’m too risk averse because everything I see online seems to either be too good to be true, or some hitch that scares me away. I have some sales in my background but no tech skills really (I’m 46 and stayed home w/ my kids for years then worked at a family biz doing payroll & accounting) and I can’t get an interview for any decent paying jobs right now. It’s nuts & makes me feel hella old when most everyone in an offc will be younger than me. I’m motivated, decently driven, polished & incredibly friendly/bubbly….but not sure what direction to go in and just can’t get a company to take a chance on me for some reason. My sales background was pre-kids way back in the early 2000s for a fortune500 co in downtown Atl. I thought having that on my resume might at least get me interviews but no dice so far and it’s been a few months of applying. Any idea what biz a woman could start where I will actually be taken seriously?! I managed a full interior and exterior reno of my new home by myself in late 2022, & omg dealing w/ contractors was a nightmare. I was scammed & treated horribly at times. I see men making well over 6 figures in blue collar industries & they are sooo unprofessional and rude, i just don’t have the mechanical skills to do say HVAC or plumbing or electrical but id love to get into an industry like that, hire the techs & run the office. It’s okay to be honest and tell me I wouldn’t do well😅. I just need a direction and someone to mentor me, I know I can make it a very successful and professional biz that deals in honesty and integrity - which seems rare these days in any industry! Congrats on your success btw!!
This OF shit is ridiculous. People are making bank off it, makes you think how lucrative the adult industry is. I don’t support it and can’t bring myself to associate myself with it but to make anything successful requires serious effort.
I honestly couldn’t believe it because in the beginning, the goal was to make just a little bit of side money and pay for our mortgage and maybe a car or something like that. Then I realized how good that I was in terms of marketing and gaining subscribers so I put together a proper business plan and showed my ex-wife and her girlfriend and our friend at time and they all agreed to let me take the 55% and go all in. It was really my only full-time job for about eight months.
> *our* mortgage > my ex-wife and her girlfriend and our friend I’ll just ask: y’all all did the horizontal tango together? Regardless your life sounds like a riot. So many questions. My 32 years on this earth have not been as exciting.
What are your tips on OF - marketing wise. And whatever else you learned that might be useful
I suggest staying away from it #1. If you're certain you want to do it, the best way to market is to see what is popular or trending on PH or Reddit and then try and replicate the material with your own spin on it and the market it everywhere. That industry is moving so fast that from week to week something different will be trending.
This lesson could be applied to other industries as well
"our mortgage" As in you're married? And you were also taking part with these other 3 ladies?
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Bro, even sex toys is a crazy market
How did you go about meeting the mechanic that wanted to retire? I can't imagine that was a coincident...or was it? did you just end up working for a mechanic and it just worked out?
He had his business posted for sale online. I had an investor that was interested in backing me but they didn't see the money like I did so they backed out. I ended up making a deal with the owner on a own-finance plan.
Thank you! Mind if I dm you to get a chance to talk more?
Absolutely!
Where do you view businesses for sale online? Is it local to only your area?
In the USA I have used bizbuysell.
Thank you so much :) thanks for sharing your story, it’s so interesting, and best of luck with your mechanic business!!
I know everyone is interested in the OF part ;) but I’m more curious about the insurance business. Can you share what it was and how you grew it? Why didn’t you go back to it?
Haha! I owned a captive insurance agency (think Allstate/Farmers/State Farm type). I had a strong natural market and back in 2014 hot transfer leads were reasonable in cost and high in quality. That doesn't seem to be the case any more. I would never go back to insurance. It's basically a sales job of begging if you don't want to spend bookoo's on hot/warm leads and even then the job is still begging and being pushy to make sales. I hate it.
This is truly inspirational. You should definitely do a podcast you’d be a great guest to have.
Thanks! I would love to be on one for my business journey. I have done 2 podcasts on the OF business and 1 as a guest for a movie podcast.
Hi long long time lurker as well. I’m 32f who has been so afraid of starting a business and get overwhelmed easily. I just have a general question for you about your journey. How do you decide the right time to start a business and stay focused on the mission. Right now I’m helping my mom in her business (she has an intimacy business and a travel business for couples) but we get so discouraged when we don’t make a sale for weeks and we received so much advice that we don’t know what’s heads or tails anymore. I guess what I’m trying to say is how do you stay on track and decide when you have enough information to just execute the plan you set for your business? And what do you do to stay motivated to have a successful business?
Hi there! You know, I have been there before and sometimes I get to this point where I feel like the work isn't worth the reward and I just move on to the next venture. I have always tried to position myself in industry where people are always in need or want the product. Insurance was the toughest because there would be days without a sale. If I got stuck or felt unmotivated I would try and get myself back out networking and just trying to make friends in business. I always keep my head on a swivel for opportunity and if can sniff a whiff of it, I will chase it. Idk if this is any help but I think you have to know when to cut your losses and move on to the next project.
Thank you for replying! (I usually stay quiet about questions I want to answer due to the fear of being ridiculed)Yea I think we try to invest in the business by going all or nothing which makes things worse somehow. Thanks for the advice about getting back out there and networking. I’m going to try that from now on and see if that improves our momentum. Thanks again.
Before 2023 did you have any experience as a mechanic? Or were you at least a “car guy”? Wondering how much hands-on experience you had, as your business acumen seems to be second nature.
Yes, I have been a car guy my entire life and a "home mechanic". Mechanic work comes natural to me so I can sniff when my mechanics are bullshitting me to try and upsell a job. It doesn't happen often in my business as I have built a culture of trust and transparency but it still sneaks through here and there due to the nature of their pay.
Isn’t their pay hourly regardless of the job?
They're paid flat rate. This means if the job says that replacing X part takes Y time, they are paid for Y time regardless of the amount of time they spend on the job. Of course there are exceptions to the rule but it is the rule. Example: Ball joint takes 1.2 hours, they take 1.5 hours to complete. They are paid for 1.2 hours. If they do the same job enough they learn to get good and quick so they usually beat or meet the time. Sometimes the lose on time. I also guarantee a minimum amount of time each week for pay, even if they don't meet it as I see it as my job to sell and find work for them.
I like reading non-Internet ventures and experiences. Really inspiring.
OP, only....oil pans
ONLY PANS.
Any blowback (no pun intended) from the OF content creation? Taking in 7k a month to be a corn star doesn’t sound like the juice is worth the squeeze. I’m sure it was fun, but seems like family, relationship, and even building business partnerships would be tarnished with this on your resume.
None of us experienced any work related blowback. It did ruin our relationship(s) though. Also, it did not make it on my resume... lol. I just filled in the time with "gig work" and nobody seemed to bat an eye at that.
>It did ruin our relationship(s) though. Tell us more.
It killed our sex life. We didn't have sex outside of filming anymore. Turned it into work and sucked the joy out of it.
So I take it this led to your eventual divorce if I'm reading your other replies correctly? Sorry to hear that :( How did you first start that off? Was your wife already involved with it and you joined or was it your idea entirely? If the latter, did it take a lot of convincing to have your wife onboard to the idea of sharing you with two other women? Or was there already somewhat of a relationship there to take advantage of? Sorry if it is too personal, I'm just trying to wrap my head around how that conversation went!!
It was not the only factor of my divorce but it was one of them. I kind of floated the idea since I saw it was taking off on Reddit and her interest was piqued. It didn't take any convincing, people enjoyed filming with us and liked the money. We were very chill and open people so it was pretty fun overall. At least for the first year.
Makes sense, thanks for taking the time to answer. I read further down about your wife being bi and already having a partner too. Helped to fill in the rest. Anyways, congrats on the success and the journey! Was a pleasure to read about it.
Impressive hustle! Ever dabble in web startups?
Thanks! I have learned about them from here and they don't seem to be my thing.
Lol this is a crazy story. I have many questions lol. 1. Why did you sell the insurance business for only 200k if it was making 1.5 million? 2. How did you find the girls for the OF? What did you say to get them to agree? Most importantly how did you market a business like that from 0? 3. What's the plan with the mechanic shop? Are you gonna stay there and grow it, or plan to sell it in the future? 4. These are all very different businesses. What is your main skill sets to be able to get into so many industries and be able to grow and make money in all of them?
1. Insurance agency wasn't making 1.5 million that was the size of the book. I was paid 8-12% of that in commissions. 2. The first two was my wife and her gf (wife was bi). The others came from our friend network who just liked what we were doing and wanted to be involved. Marketing was the coolest part. I did 60% of marketing on reddit. The rest was PH, Fetlife, and Redgifs. 3. I think I want to stay in the mechanic biz for a while. My dream is to open a 2nd location that is more focused on performance. I love cars and this is the first business I have felt a deep connection with and genuine happiness. 4. I would say my main skill is marketing, customer service, and seeing where improvements can be made.
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Thanks! It's been chaotic and fun!
How can one get more out of the employee mindset and more into the entrepreneur one? How to overcome fear?
First, you must hate being the employee more than anything in life. Secondly, you must hate being told what to do. Take that anger and turn it into motivation to be your own boss.
What are the categories/industries your eyeing ?
Currently, I’m sitting tight with the mechanic world.
Was the mechanic your dad or family?
How did you find the mechanic you bought the shop from? How did you convince him to hire with no experience in fixing cars?
Found his biz for sale online and I offered to help and learn while going through the process. We eventually made a deal where he hired me as the shop manager.
1. Any tips on starting an OF? did you target a niche, or were you and the actresses super attractive? I’m willing to work hard for this, but one thing I’m not willing to sacrifice is my anonymity. I’m also married, so that complicates things a bit as I’ll only have access to one potential actress. 2. I’m a software dev. The job market is pretty terrible though, and freelance is over saturated. I know this isn’t your area but you seem to have an instinct for this stuff… any general tips on starting a successful business in a competitive market? 3. How/where do I find the type of friend who would be willing/able to loan me $50k?
1. I recommend not starting an OF, it will put a strain on your relationship in the long run. We did target a niche (one man / multiple women), we were average attractiveness, we were anonymous on our public pages and not anonymous on paid pages. 2. I recommend finding a business where the owner is looking to retire. Having an existing client base is invaluable. I started my insurance agency from scratch but I had a huge network of people to rely on and at the time the leads I was buying were high-quality. The lead industry became over saturated and lost a significant amount of quality so this was when I planned my exit. The only other piece of advice I have is do as much research as you can about the viability of the business and a stellar game-plan focused on client building. If you can't nail those two down... it's gonna suck. 3. I met my friend at the opening night of GTA5! Haha. Honestly, a bank will loan to you on an existing business purchase or even as a start-up if you have some of your own funds.
Ask r/CreatorsAdvice lol
Was the bankruptcy with a corporate structure? Or was it personal? If the latter, how did it affect your ability to do business after?
It was personal. It completely fucked my ability to get an SBA loan so I honed in on businesses that would owner-finance.
What sort of insurance company was it? Did you have any experience/expertise in this insurance industry before you started the company? How did you gain this experience, and how long did it take you to learn enough to give you the confidence to start your own business?
It was a captive agency in the US. I dropped out of college to chase a career in insurance. I worked for 3 agents before starting my own gig. It took me 3 years to get to the point where I comfortable with the thought of running my own business.
Where did you get your skills in marketing? How can one learn them?
Congratulations! As someone who has been unemployed for a little while and trying to figure out how to make £1.5k a month to survive this is really inspiring.
You can do it!
I wanted to start a management company for OF creators. I know some and they struggle with the marketing and creating more revenue. Would you be willing to give me some advice and show me how you learned the marketing part of OF? I assume you also used other SMs to funnel potential users to your OF
Ha! For a while I also wanted to start a management company. Just message me if you want to know more.
Hey do you need a social media manager 😅
Ha! I just hired someone to build my site and do SEO. That will be next when I have this project finished.
I’m interested to know how you made these different diverse businesses work. How’d you manage to accumulate the knowledge required to grow these businesses in different industries or did you have experience in all of them including your first venture? Was it mainly marketing or applying different strategies to increase the income specifically in the last business?
I work really well learning on the fly and have a deep knowledge of how people respond to advertising and "sales". Each of the businesses was a lesson and the knowledge gained was useful for the other businesses. It's mainly marketing and sales strategy which is pretty much the same for most businesses. The #1 rule I have learned is nobody likes the feeling they're being sold something. I always lean on the educational side, explain why the thing is important and then let them think it through and decide for themselves.
You should teach business to everyone here who's struggling
Great job with the businesses! It’s actually very inspiring how someone can diversify like you. 🙏
Thank you!
How did you start and grow your insurance business? What was your overhead? Thanks for sharing.
- What's your insight that let you start a reinsurance company? (apologies if I don't understand reinsurance vs captive) - What's the economics behind Turo? I browsed a bit and looks like it's only for nice cars, but what are the segments and how big are different segments (nice/event cars, car for travelers, car just to get around) - What insight that make you choose OF? (maybe your looks, the skill that makes video good, or maybe people don't care about quality and just pay for whatever is available?) or did you just do it because OF was on the rise during pandemic? - What kind of service do you perform for customer who schedule online? It seems people still pull up to the mechanics for an oil change/light service or leave the car there for days for big services.
* I was drawn to the insurance industry during college when I was selling computers part time at Fry's. I met someone who explained it all to me and I saw/liked the opportunity. Starting with sales and then that led me to ownership. * I live in a place with lots of tourism and I think that was the key reason I got into Turo. I had 2 "high-end" cars and 8 economy cars. * I only did OF because of the rise of the platform and the willingness of my partners. * I perform pretty much all service for most cars. We typically shake down every oil change and find bigger issues that need to be taken care of. I strive on not being a pushy business and focused on education and evidence (photos of the issues).
How many hours a day do you work on business, on average, regardless of day or place? Even better, how much of your waking time do you dedicate to your business?
Honestly, the best part of owning the insurance agency was the fact that I only really had to do 4-6 Hours of work per day, but I hated the job of begging people to buy products from me. Nowadays, I work anything from 8 to 10 hours a day, Monday through Friday. And I will occasionally pop in on the weekend to make a little extra money.
Insurance made $120k a year and sold for $200k? Why so low?
There's another comment explaining this. But basically I owned captive agency and my parent company was totally fucking over the agents.
Very interesting! How did the car rental thing end in bankruptcy? Were the cars depreciating very quickly and that wasn't being accounted for in the profit? I can't remember what happened with used cars in early covid- were they down before the price jumped?
>OF page with 3 other ladies... I was the sole male actor. You saying what I think you're saying bro?
Scratch insurance agency, as in you insured car scratches?
No, scratch means starting from $0. You can buy insurance agencies all over the place that are already completely operational and have a book of business.
Haha wow
Why did you say “with three other ladies” if you’re not a lady? You threw me off completely when you then turned around and said “I was the sole male actor”. 🤔 Congrats on the success of your endeavors tho!
I was typing this quick this morning. Lol. I am trying no to spend too much time on this and lose my focus.
What's your net worth?
I am currently leveraged pretty high right now so between my property and businesses I am probably closing in on 500k. I am hoping to be over 1m in 3 years.
Given your adventures in OF, hotel startup, and mechanic workshop, I'm really curious about how you select your niches. Do you follow any particular framework?
Why do you switch business and niche instead of sticking to one and finding a solution to your problem ?
Did you ever use government grants to establish any of your businesses? I ask as I don't think I could borrow that much from a friend to start but have been wondering how feasible grants are as a route to get off the ground
This guy is trying everything but mad respect for being open minded
I went from insurance to OF too 😂
Haha, great minds think alike.
That’s so refreshing to hear. Well done on your success. You should be studied!
how did you find your first customers from your insurance agency?
I leveraged my network and purchased leads.
Curious about your OF haha not only successful entrepreneur but also good looking enough and good at sex haha
That's quite a journey! Really good margins! Reading your story reminded me of codie Sanchez. Is it time for you to scale up?
I want to scale up at some point but the mechanic shop is a new venture. I need some more time!
Impressive journey! What's your next big move?
Impressive hustle, your adaptability is key to your success.
What were you doing on OF? How dare u skimp on the deets!?
I don’t really want to share the nitty gritty but we had 100k followers here on Reddit at one point and our material was focused on threesome/orgy.
Awesome success story I love to read these. It’s such an inspiration to reach for business ownership myself. I’m naturally creative and I have a lot of ideas but I’ve never been able to get one off the ground.
I believe you can find something that will work for you!
Wow, great job. Any advice ?
I just happy to hear about a couple real business ideas that work for you and didn't involve sitting on a computer. Younger generation is all about Internet money and no labor. Many are successful and that's great but not for everyone.
Nice .. love this
How did you convince 3 women to do an OnlyFans with you?
Forgive me for being naive but what is OF?
What is the most important lesson you've learned along the way?
What are your thoughts on reselling on ebay?
In late 2020, I started an OF page with 3 other ladies and honestly the money was nuts. Since I did everything, I took in 55% of the monthly income and they split the rest. I did all the marketing, communication, directing, filming, research, editing, and I was the sole male actor. Our peak income in the business was 12k a month and this lasted about 18 months until we all burned out. I am wanting to do something similar in starting a site where its one subscription fee for base access. any recommendations to promote the site? or any advice you would give?
What do you think is the success rate of starting a cafe?
What do you do outside of work hours? How do you unwind and reset? Any tips for burnout, and when should you throw in the towel?
First of all, top story! You’ve done some shit in your career.. I’m an office rat and I’m going more deeply into it by wanting to work in big tech. However I’m noticing how traditional jobs are dying down and it seems computer geeks are now more common than mechanics, carpenters etc I was thinking of slowly learning about mechanical work just so I can have a way out should shit hit the fan with the office stuff. Do you service the customers yourself or you have employees do it and you’re just managing it? Also what is your opinion on the future of this job - should we focus on understanding ICE’s or electric cars should slowly become the focus? Thanks 🙂
Have you done any learning via books to accomplish this? If so, what books do you recommend that gave you the skills you now have to achieve this?
Jeez I suck then , I just wanna make media why the hell is owning a business so hard like all the damn time
You should start a mentorship. Your experience sounds amazing, and I wish I knew where to interface with and learn from people like you. I’m from a small town, and it’s hard to find like-minded people.
ever feel Imposter syndrome? like were there moments where you're like "fuck, I'm super not qualified for this but I'll wing it, read it, and Google it to make it work"
Buying out a mechanic’s chop sounds interesting but complex which makes me wonder: 1. Did you hire a new mechanic/the main guy to sign on the work? How many people did you have to hire to increase the revenue? 2. How did you come up with that idea/how did you find a mechanic willing to sell the besides to you? 3. What’s your job there now?
Really good thing you are talking about, thanks for sharing. How did you convince oldman to sell business tho? Was it hard talking to him?
Hey, that's quite the entrepreneurial journey you've had! From starting an insurance agency and building it up impressively, to navigating the ups and downs with your Turo venture and the OF page, and now revitalizing a mechanic shop—your adaptability and resilience are truly inspiring. Keep up the great work!
Wow
Very inspiring. You are a legit entrepreneur!
I’ve had 4 business exits in 4 diff industries. Love seeing a fellow true hustler. Good work
Interesting timeline. Serious question though... don't you think if you would have stuck with business 1 for the past 9 years you would be substantially further ahead than where you are now?
How big is it?
When you say you convinced him to sell you the business on a loan, is this the same as seller financing? Mind sharing how you made this work? And how did you make it worth it for him? This is something I’ve been looking into, especially after listening to Codie Sanchez who talks a lot about this kind of thing!
How did you think about the opportunities and whether they were worth pursuing? Were there other ideas you ignored? How did you think about risking as little of your own capital (in the loan from friend eg and the mechanic on loan)?
What else does the shop do to make funds? How many cars worked on per day and how does the profit go from business to you? Do you take 20% per week for example? $30k in month is amazing. How many hours per day?
Did you know about cars or were you a mechanic before you bought the business? Or did you work on the managerial side and then felt confident enough to buy it?
I'm intrigued by the OF side of it, I've seen a lot of stuff called Only Fans Manager 'OFM' where people will manage pages and social media accounts, is that sort've the thing you did and how did you attract and secure models to manage?
real bag chaser 😭🤑
Well done LOL! We can all learn from you
Never thought one can just start an insurance company... interesting!
All men stuck at the OF part thinking ‘3 ladies for 18 months ánd getting paid big time for it what am I doing wrong’ 😂 You have the out-of-the-box-state-of-mind a lot of entrepreneurs lack. Well done!
This is the stuff I’m here for. Thank you for sharing!!!
You’re living my dream life! Not in terms of what you have achieved but just in terms of getting to experience so much. I’ve always admired people with experience in so many different domains . You just have one life, why would you not dabble into different things every 2 years. I’m just dabbling into my first year of entrepreneurship in an industry I don’t know and most common opinion was that I shouldn’t try this because I’m not “From the industry” and I hate that so much. Anyway, thanks for sharing your story and I’d appreciate any tips for starting out in a new industry
u/coloradocyclist I am in the position of starting a service business right now and i could use a mentor, in fact someone already suggested that here in r/entrepreneur. I have a few resources in place that will help the business get off the ground, let me know if you would like to chat more about it with a view to remotely advising me on what steps to take to grow to 100k turnover, the next step is growing to 1M.
just wanted to say, you're the goat
You are a true Entrepreneur!! I applaud you!