In this article we’re going to go back in time to how I made my first 100k, we will talk about how I did it, what it felt like, all the lessons and failures that led to that moment and what actionable steps that I took to get to that financial milestone.
Now the reason I want you to hear me out, is because I’ve practiced and saw results from everything we will talk about in the video and there’s nothing that I’m trying to sell you.
Imagine I’m the fairy god father, and I wave my magic wand so we can go back in time. Trust me, this will all make sense in the end so stick with me so you can fully understand what it took for me to reach my first 100K.
Let’s Go Back To 2014
Back during this time, I decided to leave the 10-year dream I chased of being a music producer, I had some small wins during this time and worked with some well-known artist such as lil Wayne and Rick Ross. I was signed to the same manager as a popular producer right now by the name of Metro Boomin.
I lost more money than I made in my pursuit of success in this industry. Overall it didn’t contribute to my first 100K, what it did teach me is persistence and resilience. Right!? I don’t think there is a harder business than the music business.
At this point, if I was being very honest, I felt defeated, felt like a failure, I just spent a decade, working day and night, in a business that didn’t result in anything tangible.
I started doing research on businesses to start, like what some of you who may be watching are doing.
I then stumbled across wholesaling and flipping houses, I found a mentor who ended up being my business partner. I went all in on that business, made some money and then lost everything because the market was very saturated, we were over leveraged on our monthly marketing spend and then Harvey hit Houston. So the increase in demand, competition and our marketing not giving us any deals in the following 6 months led to us shutting down the business.
On top of that we purchased a flip that took way longer to sell than we anticipated and took a major loss on that as well.
So now I have about 5K in my savings and I’m working a job that makes 24K a year.
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Lets Fast Forward to 2018
Ok so in those 4 years, I started and ended that business. Its 2018 and I’m still very much broke and I’m feeling defeated again. I took the 5k I had in my savings and started a new business, which many of you may have heard of, called Amazon FBA.
I used the 5K I had left and created these sensory balls for kids in need, I ordered them from overseas, designed and created the packaging and had it sent to the amazon warehouse.
Guess what happened? I sold 2 units, and the rest sat there and didn’t sell. Amazon stated that I needed to remove the item because of its under performance and I either had to ship them all to me or have them thrown away. I didn’t have money for them to even ship the units to me, because there were so many left over.
I ended up losing the only 5k that I had, and now I have no money in my savings and living paycheck to paycheck.
Fast Forward to 2019
So now that you have some of the back story here is when things start to make a shift.
My wife now tells me she is pregnant, which is my second daughter. I was trying to figure out how we were going to be able make ends meet and I knew I had to find a way to make money now.
I started to look around the house for things to sell so I can make some money and replenish the savings account. I took the old speakers from the previous failed business and an old cannon camera and made about $800.
That moment started my path to my first 100k.
I now had $800, and I was trying to find out what else I could sell to make even more money. I started going to local garage sales, pawn shops, thrift stores and anywhere where I could find items to sell for more.
Well I kept flipping items I would find and continued to reinvest every penny back into the business. I spent every available moment and opportunity to find items to sell for more.
6 months into this, I got a high interest loan of about 50K to buy more stuff to sell online.
At the end of 2019 I looked at my sales insights inside of PayPal and realized I made half a million dollars in gross revenue and 235K was where my net profits were sitting around. I did this all whole working a 9-5 job as well.
I remember it was December and it was our wedding anniversary, my daughter was born now and my wife knew I was flipping items online but didn’t know very much about what was going on with the sales and revenue.
I remember putting a receipt of the balance I had from my savings account, which was a little bit over 100K. She opened the poorly wrapped jewelry box, thinking it was maybe some earrings or a bracelet, and looked at the receipt and broke down in tears.
Neither of us came from money, and so this was a huge moment for both of us. She had no idea that we saved that much money in 12 months of me starting.
Fast Forward to Now
Since then I’ve started many businesses, some not working out and some making multiple 6 figures.
I wanted to share how you can make your first 100K as well. The path you take may be different but hopefully these next steps can get you started in the right direction.
There were many small tweaks and lessons learned on the path to my first 100K.
Personal Money Management
I learned to limit my expenses as much as possible, within reason. This isn’t a don’t spend your money on a coffee moment. This is a “How can I free up as much cash every month so that I can invest it in a business that I believe will make me more money” moment.
Look, for me, I was barely making it by, I needed to find ways to get money to reinvest in more items to sell.
So the first lesson for me was, live below your means, and invest the excess.
This was huge for me.
Next, because I needed the money quickly because I just took an L on the amazon product and my wife was pregnant, I chose a business that allowed me to use my energy and sweat equity, to make money now.
This means when you choose a business idea, think about your time horizon. Are you okay with it taking a few years or did you need money like yesterday.
From there, reverse engineering into a business that fits your lifestyle, preference, and vision.
Leveraging Debt
Because I was reinvesting every penny, I had no cash, and it was all tied up in inventory. I went out and got a loan for 50K, to buy even more stuff to sell. I slowly paid that loan off over the remainder of the year. The 50K I borrowed probably made me 50-75K in profits after I paid it off.
What is the lesson here? Once you find a business that works and is making you money, you can leverage debt to accelerate growth.
Let me rephrase this a bit, once you have a business that shows its working, don’t let the lack of funds stunt the growth of your small business.
Take Risks!
I wasn’t afraid to take on some risk in my pursuit to make money in the long run. I understand that everyone’s risk tolerance is different.
I had made a lot of bets on different businesses that ended up losing me money. The skill I think I poses, is simply getting back up after every failure.
Anything worth having doesn’t come easy.
So making your first 100K, is not easy, but very possible, and the more you work at it and get back up after each failure, will make getting to your first 100K more probable.
Delayed Gratification
I could have stopped at 10K or 50K and decide to spend the money on things that we deemed necessary, or to treat myself for the hard work.
But I didn’t even care to. I reinvested everything and acted as if I had no money. I just wanted to give this 110%, keep my head down and eye on the prize.
I think when you come from nothing, you have a burning desire to work harder than those around you.
Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur or own their own business. You may reach your financial goals of 100K with your career or make strategic investments early on and watch it compound over time.
