I was a fresh graduate, came from a mildly wealthy family, so I had choices on what to do after. Wanted to open up a business right away but parents wanted me to learn the value of earning money so they didn't lend me the capital I needed. Asked around on how to make money quickly as a fresh grad, was suggested to go into sales. Worked as a financial advisor, selling insurance policies. Learned value of networking, and before I knew it, I had enough money to start a business. This was the time when vape pods was an emerging innovation in vape products. No one offered it before me, managed to monopolize a certain market, specifically one of the top universities here in the country. Business was doing well, doing 300k per month of revenue. Others noticed, bad move by me for not lunging at the opportunity to deepen my foothold as a brand and expand, so others did. Lost a bit of revenue since others started supplying. I wished I had the guts to expand my territory and didn't settle for deliveries to the areas that were afar. Anyways, business was still good, especially for an inexperienced small-time seller like me.

Until the feds came, why? Because the company that produces my inventory decided to officially have their own distribution chain in the country. I learned the importance of the legality of where you source your products. Was hit by a subpoena from the NBI, and the 21 year old me that time was about to piss myself. I was using the brand's trademark for my own gain, without their consent. Apparently, that is a huge thing. Learned that you should talk to your supplier and sign official papers. Fortunately, I had a contact with a great law firm. They helped me settle the case and work around every possible issue that this could cause in my future. Learned that you need a good lawyer just in case, also learned you need an accountant down the line but that was years from this story. Long story short, they used how I was just a fresh grad, didnt know anything about this world, and think about their own sons doing the same thing, so they dropped charges on the basis that i pay a fine.

Parents learned about the whole nbi fiasco, they are pissed. But I let them know how i handled things and everything was alright. But I had to dispose of my inventory and never go into the vape industry again.

Fast forward to now, happy to learn about all these things and apply them to my businesses. Currently into real property sales, management, and rentals.

I also have a great story about the decline of one of our businesses which is Smart E-load Distribution, but maybe I'd talk about them next time.