First Failed Business: My Landscaping Company

The Drive

After my success in the advertising market, I was confident to invest the money into another company. It was still during school.

I decided to tackle a mainstream market -- Landscaping.
I looked around approaching the winter season and asked myself, what do people want and would pay for during the winter season? What are the difficulties citizens of Montreal face during these harsh conditions? Many instances popped into my head right away, like scraping ice off a car before work, salting the pathway, cleaning the driveway, or shoveling the pathway after a snowstorm. It clicked that people would pay for emergency snow shoveling off people's pathways. Perhaps too old to do it themselves or simply health driven.

They'd pay me 10$ a week, per house. I would hire someone and give him 50% of the profit. 5$/week each if snowed once a week, which is realistic.

Here, its common to have 1-3 snowstorms a week. One pathway takes at most 5 minutes. If you worked 3 times on a single house, you work for 15 minutes and gain 5$. That's technically 20$/hr. 2x the minimum wage, and a job that requires minimum travel (walking distance, neighborhood travel).

Genius. I set myself to work. I invested in the utilities, and advertising papers. In need of employees, I decided to do something new (and frowned upon in business) and hire my friends. I made them sign contracts, which sounded foreign to them, but its a simple act of business you must do.

I got a few customers. The idea was to hire minimum of 5 people, and that means 5 neighborhoods. Each neighborhood would have at least 10 houses as clients. Thats 50 houses. After I paid my employees, I would get 250$ cash at the end of the week. Thats for sitting on my ass and making sure everything is going smooth. 250$ is 25 hours of minimum wage. I would do at most 1 hour of work just making sure everything is going good.

Sure, if I kept at this plan, maybe by now I would be successful. But I quit after the first season for a couple reasons. One, its hard to hire employees in this field. If you want to hire a friend, it means they no longer are your friend. Don't challenge that. It's been tried, it's been failed. Everytime. Nobody is best friends with their boss. If you are, then your boss isn't doing a good job at managing.

And two, its manual labor. Fuck that. I'm more used to interacting with customers at most or sitting on my computer making money. I hated the fact of travel. Even now, I have a retail job that is 5 minutes of walking distance from my house.

We failed the winter season, getting minimal customers. I hired my friend for this house this one morning, and he did a terrible job, as pointed out by my client. I fired him on the spot. He did get a paycheck, but was hired for 5 minutes.

This trend went on for several months. I got a few customers during the winter season earning minimum wage basically, and it wasn't worth the travelling in the harsh conditions and doing manual labor for cheap cash at the end of the week compared to what I was earning last year, which was sitting on my computer earning 100$/hr. 

Summer

Summer rolled along and with the stubborn entrepreneurial mindset I had, I launched myself to cut people's grass and wash cars. I printed the flyers, and got to work. Same principle as winter. The idea was just as winter, I charge 20$ for cutting grass. My employee gets 15$ and I, I get 5$. And that's per house. I saw a vision of at least 5 hours per employee, and having 5 employee in the beginning. Thats 125$ a week for sitting on my ass making sure everything is going smooth. Like I said, just like the summer. 

I got 3 customers. I did terrible. I did the work, and earned profit, but not nearly enough. It was at this time I said fuck it and spent a lot of my money in frustration (i.e purchasing 2 cars, blowing money generally) and got a retail job. Easy money. 

Moral

Despite my success in other industries, does not mean I'm good at everything. We all have failures. I thrive from them because without setbacks we will never go further. Life is like a bow and arrow, you pull back and have set backs in life, but eventually it will release and you'll go further than you've ever imagined. The setbacks should fuel your motivation, not drain it. It should give you reason to prove others wrong, not be the reason to give up.

A winner is determined not by their success, but how they get back up after their failures

Having a Bentley for the Weekend and a Private Chauffeur

Dreams

I remember as a kid when I was about 12 years of age, I was browsing YouTube and observing the lifestyle of the filthy rich. They had a chauffeur, as well as concierge. They literally used people to help their lifestyle. I honestly don't or really did not care for that. As a kid, I was not too fond of cars, either. Of course, I would turn my head to see a rolls royce, but I would not frantically pull out my iPhone for a photo.
That being said, elusive dreams of these (what is now reality) events was never something I would have a goal of.

After hitting my numbers, in 2015, I was set out to live life. Live life to the fullest before I get dragged into the adult world with responsibilities and all that bullshit.

I wanted to experience the luxury of a high end car. I looked at Rolls Royce, Lamborghinis, and Tesla.

In the midst of this, perhaps out of pure coincidence, my business partner flew in from LA to eat at Toque in Montreal. Yes, he flew in to eat dinner. He had his own Bentley with a private chauffeur and I set up a business meeting with him. As per usual, we discussed potential markets needing penetration to exploit capital. He said he had the Bentley rented for the weekend, and was flying out next morning, so instead of giving it back to the dealership, he'd let me have it for the day.



Don't mind if I do. I just cruised around, and made my chauffeur go around downtown for the night. I picked up my (now,) girlfriend, and we went to a restaurant.

A homeless man saw me in the back and asked me at a red light what do my parents do. What the fuck? I told them I work at a party store. A retail place I earn minimum wage at. 

We drove off. 

Thoughts

In terms of luxury, fuck yes. Its comfortable, and I would take one over a Toyota any day (of course) but I wouldn't say its worth the price. For what it asks for, in the end, its just a car. If you have money to blow, sure. If you have to save up for it, get something much more reasonable, like a Tesla for instance. 

 Honestly, you get a luxury car to show the fuck off. I got money, look at me. I'm better than you at life, look at me. In the end, personally, I rather a Tesla over a Rolls Royce in terms of the experience. Again, i'm not much of a car person. I respect automobiles that value experience of the user rather than image of the user. With Tesla, you have the smoothest driving experience on Earth, its quiet with solitude, and is the fasted accelerating car on Earth. Did I mention its environmentally friendly? If you're one of those who laugh at global warming, stop reading and get the fuck off this blog. I would give up all my money to preserve the nature of Earth rather than exploit it and destroy it. 

My Second Business and Making 50k at Age 15

Internet

People rather underestimate the value of the internet. Its like America on steroids, the land of opportunity at your fingertips. There have been people that are now billionaires and millionaires due to overnight decisions on the internet. Its amongst the greatest inventions ever created.

School

I was stepping into secondary 4, or grade 10, and it was doomed to be "the most stressful year" in a high school students year. Here, in Quebec, grade 11 was the last year before CEGEP (aka College). Not having enough time, the CEGEPs look at grade 10 results and it results in acceptance or denial into college.
Motivation
August 12, 2013. It was almost less than a month away from grade 10, and I needed a push of motivation. I wanted to get such good marks that it will outstand every single student in the grade and past history. My sister sent me a video through Facebook messenger titled "Gurbaksh Chahal: If Money Is Your Only Goal, You'll Never Achieve It"
It shook me. Hard. I researched his career path, Donald Trumps, read a lot of book on Mark Cuban and Steve Jobs, the biggest successes in human history.

My Second Business

This story is deep, and I do not like to talk about it to others. It was my biggest paycheck. And with it, came depression.I created an advertising agency the first day I stepped into grade 10. I ran it for 10 days, and in that 10 days, my teachers gave me 3 assignments. I gave myself 35 assignments. I was having meetings during class, during my breaks, and neglected and insulted my friends in order to better myself.

We would initiate advertisements onto websites in order for the users to click the ads. I'll give you an example. Say, you own Nike.com and want to put ads on it that are relevant to your users. We, as an agency, will work with you in contract to put relevant ads on your websites guaranteeing rise in capital from the website. The way this works, we target specific demographics with specific ads. For example, people in India, we could show them less expensive, colorful looking shoes. It fits with the demographic. In America, we could advertise the really high quality Nike products, and it will allow them to click on the advertisement.
Or, say a more explicit example. Let's say an adult website, you do not want to see advertisements that deal with shoes. You'd see adult advertisements on an adult website. Otherwise, the ad is useless since it does not engange the user.
Earnings
I had ~150 employees working for me, all with either University level degrees or with high experience. We worked with big name brands, who shall not be named for which I signed a contract for. We were reporting exponential earnings. The first week in, I along with my first 4 employees had made 5,432.00$. 

The second week, I added another employee and we made 9,450.00$
My whole mindset with charging either small brands or even big name was cut the taxes, disregard the cents. If you know Casey Neistat, he gives no fucks. He does what he feels is right and what he wants to do. At this time, I hated cents. So i'd only charge my clients with whole numbers, so at the end of the day I did not have to deal with cents.

1 month in, its October, and we are earning roughly ~20k a month. We had 90 employees on October 15. I had so much money, I hired people to hire people because I did not have the time. Balancing full time school and the stress of getting into college along with a quickly expanding multi-thousand dollar company was not easy.

It was a steady rise. I remember one day I skipped Friday school because I did not sleep the other night. Thursday, 6am, I woke for school. I came back from class at home at 3pm. Got to work. No time to waste. I worked for 5 hours, and got up to have a bite to eat at 8pm. Back to work. Took a washroom break at around 10pm, and went back to work. I worked for so long, my computer fans started going berserk. I saw the sun rise, and said "Oh yeah. I have school."
I couldn't. I was about to close a 15,000$ contract and we were in the midst of finishing it. I never trusted anyone else to close it. We had skype meetings at night while my family slept. It was 9am, I finally got in touch with the man that can give me the thumbsup to sign the deal. Signed. Done.

Work is not over. We have to finalize, organize, reiterate, organize my employees with their media department, and ugh. No pain no gain. Hustle.

Sleepless Nights

I'm awake for 72 hours. I have 2 projects overdue for school, and its either getting into CEGEP or running this company. The thing is, if this company fails overnight, which happens, then I would have wasted all my time. I thought about it. All my friends would go to college, i'd be left behind, and make new friends and a whole new life over again. Fuck that.
This routine went on for a while. I remember one day in class before the holidays, I was in English class finalizing deals and seeing earnings. I looked at my earnings with my close friend Azmar, and was looking at ~500$ per hour for me alone, let alone my employees. It was a breathtaking moment realizing that the hustle and the grind pays off.

$ SOLD $

I sold it. I sold it to a startup in need of algorithms and employees for 50k, I gave 10k to my partner who owned a 20% stake in the company. I got sued countless times for not paying my employees proper, cutting taxes, patent infringements, and more. I had to pay countless fees. I remember one day, I had to pay my fees but I was still in school. I used my break to go pay it with, again, my close friend Azmar.
It was for patent infringement and the bail out was ~7,400$.
The infringement was by my partner, who owned 20%. He resigned, kept his 10k, an exploited 7400$ from me. Scumbag. Capitalism. I love it. There are no friends in business, everyone is trying to get money from each other. He has 17,000$ and I have 30,000$.
What i've realized is as soon as you get money, everyone tries to exploit it either legally, by suing, or by just fucking grabbing.
I sold it because I had to focus on my exams. There was no way in hell I was going to pass the exams whilst running this.
There's a reason why I didn't add names to this post. I don't want to get sued again. Not again

Travelling Across North America to Make a 12,500$ Business Deal for The Weekend

*Disclaimer: photos used in this post are not mine*

Dreamy Palm Trees and Sunshine

I've always wanted to visit Los Angeles. Ultimately, its my goal to live there or around there, in San Diego or something. I just love the fucking palm trees and sunshine 24/7. The women there are beautiful, and everyone is partying everyday. The rich lifestyle is present, and capitalism at its finest. The poor are poorer and rich are richer. Ultimately, only the rich and richer live there. There is not middle class. Their middle class is Canada's higher class.
A one bedroom apartment would cost 2500$ a month there.

But its beautiful.

The Business Deal

In October, I got an email from a former business partner pointing me towards a business located in the heart of California and would like me to invest. No big deal. I get about 10 of these personal emails a day. This one caught my eye however. It dealt with drugs, the future, and of course, California.

It was an email poaching me to invest some money in an Uber-style weed delivery service. You open the app, choose a strain, and its at your door in less than 45 minutes. Fucking genius.

I shot a reply right back at him during math class. He got back at me in under 2 minutes.
"Great. I can set you up with [name of executive] and he would like to speak with you" he said. For privacy reasons, names are excluded.

I had a skype meeting with him a few hours later. He pitched me a little of his idea, and would like to meet me. I said i'll try and see if I can fly to LA. Honestly, I just wanted to escape the cold of Montreal.

How I Convinced my Parents

I convinced them in under 5 minutes. I'm the best at talking, Just kidding.

I told them i'd be sleeping over a friends house for the weekend, and that we'll be playing video games to enjoy a long needed first semester break.

Of course they said yes. I packed a bag with 1 pair of jeans, hygiene essentials, a suit, and 3 shirts. That's all I needed for LA. I went to my "friends house" right after class.

I went to the airport.

I took the flight out to LA through Delta airlines, and service was on par. Nothing out of the ordinary.
I got American currency at the airport, and let me tell you, fuck the Canadian dollar.

Landing in LA

I got to LA just before the sunset. As soon as I landed, I took an Uber to Venice Beach. What I love about Uber is that it will work in any country, since it was with PayPal. I looked at the beach and it was surreal. I made it. I was far away from any of my friends, any of my enemies, any of my family. No one here knows me. I had my chest high with a smile as I walked through the sand. I saw people finishing their surfs, and fast food stands selling fresh food.
I saw palm trees and the sunset was... Oh my god, fuck, the sunset was stunning. I took photos and videos, but put them up on Snapchat. I was too scared to have a record that I went to LA incase my family found out looking through my phone one day.



I used a stranger's phone and called the number I found in my emails. I found the company. I met with the executive, and he said the work day is over. "What do I do now?" I said. I had no where to go.
"Are you sober?" he said "Yes, why? I don't look it?"

"I mean, because you're investing in my company. You must be drunk thinking I would say goodnight now. So come to my flat. You can stay with me." He said. "But first, a bite to eat".

Fancy Dinner and Realizing My Destiny

We ended up going to Wolfgang Steakhouse in Beverly Hills. Holy fuck its fancy. It costed me 200$ for a steak. The chef personally came up to our table and shook our hands, then commenced cutting our steak and preparing it in front of our eyes. He literally brought a professional portable kitchen to our table to cook
us a meal.




It was the dinner of millionaires. I was surrounded by millionaires. I was talking about money. I was living, breathing, enjoying, a money environment.

Palm trees, sexy women, millionaire dinners, beautiful sunsets. I was living the dream.
it can't get any better than this. I literally wanted to stay here forever. I didn't want to go back to Montreal. I wanted to ditch my family and live out here forever. But that would mean dropping out, and how expensive LA is, I wouldn't sustain myself for long.

Haters

As per usual, we got straight to business. Silly me, I didn't silence my phone. As he was pitching me, two fucking retards named "Banghajan Kanagaratnam" and "Harman Puri" snapchat me back. They were doubting I was even in LA. I didn't reply, of course. I'm in fucking LA. I'm living in. Haters.


But of course these fucking peasants didn't stop there, researching and trying oh so hard to expose what was already real. What I learned here in these lessons was remove haters as soon as they criticize your hustle. When others can't do it themselves, they try to bring others down. These fucking peasants are so jealous they still don't believe I purchased my father a car when the proof is there. Come look at my driveway, peasants.

That really fucked up my night. I really didn't care about them not believing in me, because the fact of the matter is i'm closing a 12,000$ deal as they talk shit out of their 1$ mouth. I'm sure as hell they never made a single grand in their lifetime. But what really pissed me off more, was the fact that they were now telling my closest friends that I lied about my trip. That i'm a fake. That really pissed me off. The first time I heard that, I was speaking with Ali on the phone. I said right away I have 5000$ cash sitting in front of me ready for Harman and The B whatever his name was guy. 2500$ EACH if they can prove me wrong. I supply the photos I took in LA, and they find where I got them from.

Fucking peasants. Moving on, the night was fantastic. I approved of his business idea, and we set up a meeting for the morning after. I spent 300$ on dinner and went to his flat. He had a hot tub inside his house outlooking the scenery of Los Angeles. His house was uphill. Needless to say, I had a good nights sleep.

Closing The Deal and Signing The Contracts

I woke up and we took a ride to the office. He showed me around, introduced me to the important people, and we got right to business. I read to contracts, and signed them. I am officially an investor of this company, and I give in 12,500$.
I shit on the same people that introduced me to weed in Montreal a year ago, where now i'm signing a business deal concerning weed. I'm sure they'd never be able to spend 12,500$ on weed in their life let alone giving it away. Everyone is a peasant in my eyes at this moment. My ego is at its all time high.
I tell my business partners to show me around. I enjoy LA in the sunshine for the first time. It was dark last night so I didn't get the full experience. I went to In n Out, walked on the pier, gazed at Beverly Hills mansions, and just enjoyed life. I also went hiking to overlook LA.

It was a massive reminder of the world that's out there. It was heaven on Earth for me, coming from Montreal. It felt insane.

I met knew people, and Uber'd aimlessly from place to place for a couple hours until I got a message from my brother on Facebook telling me my family is picking me up from my friend's place at about 11pm because we had to go to a restaurant opening of my parent's close friend. The plan was not to go back to Montreal now. I wanted two more days. It was midday in LA, and I took the first flight out. I did what I had to do, said my goodbyes, signed the contracts, invested 12,500$, tried the greatest steak in north america for 300$, ate an In n Out, visited Beverly Hills mansions, and witnessed the LA lifestyle. All this while the haters in Montreal were eating a 5$ meal at a restaurant in Montreal called Basha.




I landed home and greeted my family as if nothing had happened. I got home at about 10 at night, and we were getting ready to go to the restaurant. I called my close friend "Po" and told him how insane it was. How I just landed in time, and no one suspected a thing.

I went to work a few days later and my colleagues asked why I went and why I would spend so much money on a trip to LA. The single flight cost is enough for months of work for my colleagues.

"I went across the continent for one weekend because why the fuck not"

Every year, there is a new phrase I can proudly say.
I'm moving down south as soon as I get my professional career off the ground. Hustle hard.

How I Bought My Father a 20,000$ Car for his Birthday

The Dream

As a kid, i've always wanted to do something huge for my parents. And as a kid, I thought rationally, I can probably afford to give them at most a briefcase of 5000$ cash during my teenage years. A trip to the caribbean perhaps. But nothing 20,000$ crazy. Maybe in the future when I am settled with my career, but not now.

Upon selling my advertising agency, I kept the money lowkey for a year. As soon as I got out of high school, I started spending. I bought what I wanted, the latest iPhone, Apple Watch, expensive clothing, a $14k watch and I even bought myself a run down car for my first car. That last one was an impulse buy. Because who doesn't want a fucking trap car. I don't even have my license yet.

It's time to do something for my parents. i decided to purchase my father a well deserve brand new car. I want it to stand out, and I did have a price range. My budget was 15k. I went a little over the budget, no biggie.

Walking into the Dealership in Shorts

It was summer, I was hot as fuck, and didn't care to wear a blazer or look any more professional than if I just woke up. As soon as I walked into the dealership dressed the way I was, no salesman got up to speak to me. I looked around the cars alone, and after about 10 minutes, an older gentleman came up to me and asked if I needed help. I said I want to purchase a car. The usual questions came up, like whats your budget was the first one surprisingly. And then, they had the fucking decency to ask for my age and then some tell me to bring my parents in for further approval. Fuck out of here. I left. I came back the next week looking more professional. I wore my shades, loafers, a suit, and walked in with confidence.

I kid you not, a salesman came up to me with a smile and shaking my hand asking what my name is as soon as I walked in the door. It was not the same sales rep as the previous week. Fuck that son a blimey bitch.

I told him I needed something fuel efficient so my father doesn't have to pay more than he already is, something sporty and one that impresses. I told him my budget, and he showed me a few cars. After 45 minutes he showed me the Hyundai Elantra 2016. 17,699.99$.

"Is there a sportier model?" I said. "Follow me" He said

Hyundai Elantra 2016 Sport Edition. MSRP 20,699.99$. I looked inside, we took it for a test drive. I said i'll take in 30 minutes in. We set up the paper work and it was going to be ready for next week. Perfect.

(There was a huge hassle actually, the fact that I didn't have a license, my bank account has limits because i'm under 18, but after 2 hours of debating and negotiating I finalized the deal)

Day of the Pickup

I went with my brother. It was a friday. We went to our local mosque for friday prayers, and went straight to the dealership hereafter. We went to the dealership and they gave us a massive bow to put on the car since it was a gift for my father.

It was great seeing my father happy. Its an intense feeling. The hard work and determination you put in and you purchase something this big for the people who cared for you your entire life. Many dream of this. "One day, i'm going to be rich and buy my parents a car, a house, a this, a that"

Its real. It's not a dream. I'm 17 years old and have 2 cars, yet I haven't even started driving courses to obtain my license.

Its a surreal feeling walking home from school, seeing the car parked in the driveway. I always touch it as I walk towards the house. It's always an emotional moment. 

One day, I will purchase a mansion or two in the cities of palm trees. People laugh when I say my wildest dreams, but look at me now. Fucking peasants. Doubt them. Crush them. Hustle.

Know your wildest dreams. Now load. Aim. Fire.

The world is in your hands. Stop reading this and hustle for a better lifestyle. 

Taking Homeless Man Out For Coffee and Food — Lessons Learnt

I just got done with a big week, I sold a stock in YHOO, I was getting a long with my family, my friends and I were hanging out a lot, I made a lot of new friends and my girlfriend and I had a beautiful dinner planned the weekend ahead. 

Later that evening I was on my way home as I was mesmerized by a stunning sunset, one that captured my attention and got me thinking.
I felt an aw for life. Life is beautiful. I had everything I ever wanted. Literally. I have a great retail job with awesome colleagues, enough money in my account to sustain my education plans, I had all the materialistinc things I've always wanted, just thinking forward, life was great. For me. 

Rewind a couple hours...

Morning

I awoke for school like i'd normally would. Eyes open, stocks app open. I check my shares at a glance, put my phone away, freshen up and eat breakfast. On my way to school. I was waiting at the bus stop where I noticed a man in his late 30's frantically going through his folder full of papers of some sort. He looked nervous, as if he was going to a job interview. He did also look a little sloppy. 
I mind my business, and I don't care how others live, so I just wait for my bus like i'd normally would.

"What time is it boss?" he asked me
As I told him the time, he asked frantically, "did the bus leave?"

"No" I said. "It will be here in 1 minute".

"Thank you"

So we get on the bus and hes just panicing silently, going through his papers like hes late to a meeting and forgot his suit and morning coffee.
Whatever, its nothing huge. I get to school, everything is cool, the day went normal. 

Evening

As I go to my normal commute home from school, I come across the same guy waiting for the same bus going towards the same location, near my house. It was at this point where I saw the sunset and felt great. 
I struck up a conversation with him. 
"hey, you remember me?" I said. 
"No who are you?" he asked very surprised, as if I was going to shoot him. He looked like he did a crime. 
"I gave you the timing for the bus this morning haha" 
"Yes! Yes! I have had a rough day buddy. What is your name?"

I'm not going to go through dialogue, this isn't a novel. To cut to the chase, his day consisted of his first day on the job as a man who cleans old people's apartments. He had to bus to random houses (or clients) to clean and scrub away all day. I said that's cool, so d you like what you do? He said no. He hates it, but you gotta do what you gotta do to survive I guess.

He explained to me how he was in this situation he is in now throughout the bus ride home. At the last few stops, his boss called his phone. He pulled out a flip phone, and instead of clicking answer, he clicked speaker phone.
He put his phone to his ear like anyone would, but I don't think he realized it was on speaker. It was his boss asking him if he will be coming in or not. Apparently he completely forgot that he had to drop off the checks at his manager's office. He said sorry boss, but I am very tired and am headed home. 

I can already tell he was kind of fucked up in the head. Mentally wise. I mean, God bless the man, but he was mentally challenged, just a little bit. He was speaking very loudly in the bus, too. 

Coffee

We get off the bus, and I point towards a restaurant nearby and ask him if he'd like a bite to eat on me. He was like "What? Really? What are you sent by God?" I laughed and brought him in. He ordered a poutine and an orange juice. Before we even got the food, he finished his orange juice. I got us both coffee. We got our food. We had deep conversations...

He told me you're young. Don't ever do anything stupid. Anything you ever think of, whether that'd be getting into drugs, partying late at night, theft, vandalism, anything will come back and get you in the future. Its like karma's older brother. You cause harm to something in life, it will come and get you back. The situation he is in now is because of small bad decisions that snowballed to what he is now. Everything shapes who you are. Everything. 

He made a choice once to go to a bar with his new friends with a fake ID once. He got drunk, and enjoyed it. Did it again the next week. And again. Eventually, he was 20, dropped out, and was doing drugs every week with those same friends. 
"It's crazy how going to a bar for a night can fuck up your whole life like that" he said. 

I learned some crazy things about the man. One, he has a kid. And two, his mother has 20,000$ in her bank account for him for good measure. Its locked up. And will only be given to him if one, his mother is dead, or two, to make good use of it like putting it towards a business.

Speaking of business, he pitched me his cleaning company that he plans on making. He says he wants to buy a truck and name it Tony's Cleaning Services. He was telling me how the equipment necessary is not even expensive and how he knows a lot of clients that will pay him. He says eventually he wants to open a legal business and own a nice mid-tier level house with a gorgeous wife and be able to sustain future kids. 

Key to Happiness

Don't stress the little things in life, he told me. Everything is planned for you by God. He has already planned for you to be rich or poor, and you shoud go with the path the wind takes you. Do not force youself to become a doctor if you do not like it. Do not force yourself to work hard and hard to be rich. Because in the end, you won't be happy since it was not your destined path. Go with the flow, and don't sweat the little things in life. If you end up poor, don't worry. It was meant to happen, and whats comforting is that you would not be as happy if you were rich. 

That's mainly what he taught me.
A lot else went into this conversation, but i'd like to keep that for private memory.

If there is one thing you would walk away with after reading this, its that never waste your time. Everything counts. Every little bad decision will come back in life to haunt you in the future. Live humble. Live happy. Enjoy life.

How I Invested My 600$ to Make 9000$

Remember My iPod Touch?

If you read my last post, and I suggest you do, as they go in historical sequence, my father purchased me an iPod touch in 2010. It was what sparked my interest in social media, and it is what got me to make my first 600$. It was quite possibly the greatest decision. Ever. 

Unfortunately, it started to get a little old. It was new years, and I still had 600$ left. I spent 100$ in two years, on only necessities and emergencies. I earned 100$ from holidays and birthdays. As much as I wanted to, I did not want to purchase another iPod touch. This one is still running. It works. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality if you will.

My sister showed me a raffle happening at my school district, and it was to win the latest iPod touch 4th generation. I entered. I won.

I used this iPod to further extend my knowledge on technology, and got interested in stocks. What is this icon on my homescreen? I want to get rid of it. I did. I used my skills in hacking to root the system and remove the stock application that was factory and could not be deleted. 

Bitcoin

If I remember correctly, it was during march break. I was bored. I woke up early, which I rarely do. I sneaked into my parent's room and opened the computer. It was 8am, and we were on break. There was no reason for me to be awake. 
I came across a virtual currency titled "Bitcoin" and it promised to revolutionize the payment system in the future. I thought, we've been using cash for centuries, and bank accounts contain cash in a virtual number. Surely, an actual virtual currency must be the future. 

As my "first impulse purchase", I bought 8 bitcoins through a shady website for 74.05$/a pop.

What did I just do? I told myself the money has been sitting in my bank account for ages. It was time to do something risky, and I had nothing to lose. I was confident that ill get a job that coming summer, and that the money can be covered in 2 weeks of work (which is small comparing to 2 years of which I held that money).

The Jackpot

Fast forward to November. Bitcoin is shooting so high, it is unbelievable. News stories are covering this left and right, the rise of 1000% of bitcoin over night. The staggering success stories of people who purchased it at a few cents now millionaires. I remembered I had bitcoin, and thought of selling it immediately. My greed held me back, and I waited. I missed the boat of 100$, which was not much.
A month later, the Chinese Government banned the use of Bitcoin in Chinese business. At this point, I sold it immediately at 1132.26$.

I earned a profit of 8458.08$, and in total, I had over 9k sitting in my account. 

I felt unstoppable. I earned so much money, and I was so proud of myself. Imagine being a typical teenager and spending that 600$ in the 2 years? Or more astonishingly, not waking up on a whim, and randomly going to my parent's bedroom to use the computer?

I thought: If I had clicked something else that morning when I first heard about bitcoin, I would not have had 9000$ in my account right now. I was only 15. Earning money gave me an adrenaline rush, and a dopamine rush.

I fell in love with money.