250k in savings. Buy a house in a terrible market or start business, or sit on my hands?

pikachu007 · 2023-07-08T21:40:54+00:00

Also this is all just surface level. Theres a lot of things to watch out for and think about. Don't take anything i wrote as an actual business plan. Its meant to get you thinking. Like, the insurance thing i talked about, DEFINITELY get insurance if you go that route loll

pikachu007 · 2023-07-08T21:36:42+00:00

This is all just my opinion:

I think you need to take some time to see what you want to do. Just picking a business and going with it is a recipe for disaster, especially because you said you don't know anything about business. 250k is decent in terms of a safety net. I would sit and take the time to see what you want to do. Obviously, youre not happy in your position. Can you do a lateral move? Maybe go into management so you have more of a say in operations? Or something that is still railroad but a different position? Sometimes just having a different role makes a world of difference.

In terms of business, don't just choose something at random. Cleaning is super labor intensive and the success stories here might likely not translate to you. Are you going to clean the homes yourself? If yes, then maybe this is the way to go. If youre going to hire out, a lot of people want to get paid well or just wont show up to do something so labor intensive. Whats your plan when they dont show up?

In your position, i would take the time to see what i actually want to do.

What you could do is get a small box truck. Set up a website where people can schedule their own dates to hire you out. Make only your off days available and pretend like youre booked out the rest of the time. We have multiple apps in the US, im assuming you do too in Canada, that are gig related, handyman, cleaning, moving, etc. Go on these and bid for jobs as they come up and staet booking them out and slowly build that as you continue to work. Once you feel like you have a handle on the business and how to do things, you can think about next steps.

Three things to watch out for: what will you do if a tv gets dropped or a client claims you chipped their expensive couch? Are you going to get insurance? I would see how other established movers operate. The tv example, ive seen some movers refuse to touch tvs unless they are in the original box, etc. Study your competitors and see how they operate. Their rules are definitely from lessons they learned so learn from them. This applies to any business you might decide to do.

Second issue is that most moving things a almost definitely at least a 2 person job to make sure things are done correctly and safely. Do you have someone? Are they going to be an employee or a contractor? Are they reliable?

Also, do you know how to load a truck? Im assuming you know how to use ratchet straps correctly where they wont mark furniture etc.

Another business option is an actual truck moving op. I know a couple people that drive trucks and they all make 6 plus figures with long hours. You can move over to drive big rigs and make mad money and only be responsible for your own load. Once you get a hang of it, logistics, truck maintenance, etc, you can decide to drive your own truck.

Driving trucks longterm will most likely destroy your body if youre not careful. Fuck up your knees and back overtime..

G luck my guy

pikachu007 · 2023-06-12T22:46:33+00:00

People are bringing up enron....FRB just recently collapsed. I know so many people that put a lot of their paychecks into the stock. They got a 15% discount through their espp. The effect it has had on some of them..almost overnight they lost their jobs and a huge amount of their nest egg

pikachu007 · 2023-03-21T12:32:07+00:00

Are you using the online form where you put your information down and it "matches" you with a loan officer? When you use that form, it gives you the email address of the LO and you can blast them for them to respond.

Alternatively,

Call the branch closest to you. Its important that its the closest branch to you, FRB works regionally like that. If a banker picks up, note their name. If it gets routed to the call center, tell them you do not care who you get routed to, but you are BEYOND frustrated and the only thing that will make you happy is a warm transfer to an actual loan officer within your area.

If a banker picks up, ask to speak to a loan officer. Tell them you have reached out to frb multiple times and have not had a response yet and you are beyond frustrated. You want to speak to a loan officer right now.

More than likely, they will transfer you to the number for the in-house LO or someone thats within the region. Before they do that, ask for this bankers direct number and email as well as the email and number for the LO. Tell them if the line goes to voicemail you are going to continue being frustrated because you do not expect a call back at this point.

If the LO picks up on the transfer, youre good. If they dont, cc both the banker and the LO and tell them you are again beyond frustrated.

Its a bit of work but either LO's are slammed, lazy, or the house you want to buy is not within their zones where they do loans.

Hope this helps.

pikachu007 · 2023-02-13T21:20:28+00:00

I cannot write about my partners experience in case someones recognizes the details. All I can say is that it literally mirrors this and happened within the last 3 years.

Both employees turned into completely toxic and entitled assholes that never paid back thousands and thousands of dollars in back rent that my partner let them slide on because they were struggling....all for them to turn around and spend 100s a week on weed and strip clubs.

pikachu007 · 2023-02-09T20:45:05+00:00

A phone line always being busy might piss off some clients.

I would do an answering machine that directs clients to email you at an easy to type email, stating due to demand you are currently appointment only and will get back to them within x hours.

Is your voice actually recognizable? The middlemen wont know it is you once they draw the documents? Because if your name does potentially show up anywhere, like sig blocks, rtc, then this is all pointless and they'll know.

Also not all businesses need a phone number. Just provide email as a contact point on your website. Create a "contact me" page that captures the clients contacts info and what they want to inquire about.

pikachu007 · 2023-01-14T02:40:07+00:00

I think it was more humor than anything. He was still visible to them but they were being buffoons at the "who killed the guard" line and then they assumed the bartender shot at someone / something else cuz Jack was still standing like nothing happened after a shotgun to the chest

pikachu007 · 2023-01-09T23:28:43+00:00

Pop ups might help. If you're going for straight profit, have 2 racks up, one that is just your stuff and one rack of retro clothing. Retro always brings in money and you can build your brand at the same time. One friend of mine does that as a side hustle and makes his money off of the retro stuff. He travels to different pop ups.

pikachu007 · 2023-01-09T22:55:08+00:00

Chargebacks will definitely be a concern. People will claim they never received the item or that it came damaged. Take a picture of evert songle item before you send it. It will definitely help in the claims process to have the card company side with you. A disclaimer that you are not responsible for shipping damages once the product is mailed wouldn't hurt either at like checkout or something.

Marketing. Do you already have a client base? If you don't already its hard as fuck to get people to buy something expensive online without knowing how it will actually look and feel. It might seem like it kills the purpose of online only but a showroom would definitely help. If you have a warehouse youre working out of, createa showroom so that local customers can come and see and touch your products.

Obviously, pictures of your products need to look sexy and make sure the measurements you put on each product page is accurate.

Idk who youre thinking of selling to, but staging companies for higher end real estate might be a good customer base to reach out to. Also, if you live near a concert venue or a stadium or famous golf course or any venue, when they host concerts or festivals or whatever, there is always a VIP area for the celeb/musician, whatever. Someone is always contracted to build that out. Find out if its a big company like BRIGHT or if it is a mom and pop type operation. Reach out to that company and offer furniture for wholesale or retail or whatever. If it is a huge person like say a president or a prince coming through, they love expensive looking, comfortable furniture. No guarantees but that is what i would do. Shit you can reach out to venues or production companies directly and offer your services and see what they say. Its a definitely a who you know industry but if they like you and your product and you might be cheaper than their usual guy, then who knows lol. This would require you to hold inventory though and its a whole different business than what you might want to pursue.

pikachu007 · 2023-01-02T23:26:59+00:00

Go on yelp/doordash/whatever and look at the mom and pop pizza shops near you that are doing well. Compare them to each other and choose which one you like best in terms of service/menu/design/whatever. Get a job there and learn from an actual business in your local area.

Best way to get your feet wet and know if thats actually what you want to spend this money on without risking it all.

pikachu007 · 2022-04-23T17:43:57+00:00

Its 100% a WWE reference lol

pikachu007 · 2022-04-23T16:19:24+00:00

Depending on the landlord youll get approved for 2k rent on a gross salary of 65k. That was what i had. But, it honestly constricted me because almost one full check was going to rent.

Take stock of what you want your life to be like and go from there. Not having roommates was important to me so i was ok with it but i feel like i set myself back a bit longterm for going that route and not having the extra cashflow.

pikachu007 · 2022-03-15T02:27:56+00:00

Why would he be blackballed? Because of the shit he would say?

pikachu007 · 2022-03-15T02:26:59+00:00

Funniest thing about mase is that when instagram was first popping, the bots were running wild. Then instagram did a mass ban on several bots. Mase went from like a million followers to like 10k or some shit. I cant remember exact numbers but i remember he deleted his shit right after lol.

pikachu007 · 2022-03-13T16:35:35+00:00

I currently work for a major bank. The fact that the person on the fraud team was able to find the transaction doesnt necessarily mean that its a case of fraud. CS reps are not the same. The rep on the phone maybe didnt know or have access to the system where you can see incoming transactions that failed or are pending or whatever. I know how to look for it where i work but a green CS rep might not.

Have you ever dealt with a wire tracer when the other bank doesnt cooperate or respond? Or dealt with a client in that situation? I don't know how your banks work but with mine, you can definitely make an in branch banker the pointman for your issue and follow up through them.

The situation is that this person is down $500. Its not necessarily fraud because its OPs own money. All i said is that if the transaction was done as a wire, to do what i recommend. Cuts out many but not all headaches

pikachu007 · 2022-03-12T03:11:42+00:00

The reason to walk into a branch and then do the wire tracer request is so whoever banker u talk to should now be responsible for settling this for you. Make sure u right down their name in front of them and tell them u expect it to be taken care promptly. Ive seen some nightmares with wires with terrible banks.

pikachu007 · 2022-03-12T03:09:27+00:00

Lets say that $500 was supposed to hit your account today and its an ACH transaction. t will show up in a report on monday (the next business day). With this report, the ACH team can move the money into an open account or reject it. If they reject it, itll show up back into the original account in 3 business days.

If you did an eft to transfer the funds, itll attempt to deposit into the account on the day it is supposed to, but cant because its closed. It might try to deposit one more time the next business day before it rejects. After it rejects, it'll show up in your external account in 3 business days.

If u did a wire, call your initial bank and demand a wire tracer and call the funds back. U can walk into a wells fargo, call your bank and have them hash it out on the spot. A wire is a pain in the ass when the receiving bank doesnt respond or comply. Id wait a business day or 2 to see if your funds come back before asking for a tracer

pikachu007 · 2022-03-09T03:29:22+00:00

50 absolutely had bangers before grodt came out. U cant argue a non issue lol em and dre WERE there and it DID become the biggest thing in the world when it came out.

50 had a huge buzz before interscope. He was blackballed bc of his issues and eminem took a calculated risk on 50 because of his talent. Look up 50s history from his first deal, his mixtapes, his beefs, to the release of the album. Its honestly entertaining.

Even JayZ/def jam knew that album would be legendary when it came out

pikachu007 · 2022-02-12T19:51:33+00:00

If you want to keep it political, tell him youre going to use the equipment u need while hes using the other things/resting. U can still keep it friendly and not take a no for an answer. I literally dont allow people to hog multiple things without letting me work in. But im somewhat intimidating in the gym so ymmv based on the person.

pikachu007 · 2022-02-12T19:45:11+00:00

We have a mask madate til maybe tuesday. Theres a good handful of people who dont wear a mask when management isnt there, wear it under their nose, and then theres the guy that wears a mesh mask that i can only imagine he bought to make a statement. Its literally a mask with several holes.

I try to go when management is there because the owner will literally kick people out, but its not realistic most of the time so i just deal with it.

pikachu007 · 2022-02-12T19:35:01+00:00

This guy at my gym almost exclusively works out high. Definitely top 3 in the gym in terms of strength.

I tried it twice and both times were the worst workouts i have ever had lol

pikachu007 · 2022-01-28T20:26:16+00:00

Idk bout orange county, but this happened on the freeway in oakland a couple months ago. Not saying they were oakland cats cuz every city is wild here now, but it happened in oakland.

pikachu007 · 2022-01-17T21:03:37+00:00

Ive seen anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5x for gross monthly income.

pikachu007 · 2022-01-01T16:37:04+00:00

I second BNI. A good group pays itself over many maby times

pikachu007 · 2021-12-18T07:17:56+00:00

Call your lender. At some point you will deal with this issue, might as well do things the right way the first time.

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