Becoming rich in a short amount of time is a tough goal to accomplish, but possible. With entrepreneurship, it is possible to get rich fast and become wealthy at a young age.
In The Millionaire Fastlane, MJ DeMarco provides us ideas and a detailed framework for you to start a business and become rich.
Is your financial plan destined for greatness or mediocrity? Is your financial plan tied to variables you can’t control, such as the stock market or your job?
Why spend 40 years working 40 hours a week so you can be rich in a wheelchair? It doesn’t make sense.
MJ DeMarco built a large lead generation company in the early 2000s and sold it for multiple million dollars. He busted his butt for a few years so he could enjoy an early retirement. The story of his life is truly inspiring, and his tips and actionable items are extremely valuable.
Entrepreneurship might not be for everyone, but if you are looking to build extreme wealth fast, you must consider starting a business.
Below is a book summary of The Millionaire Fastlane, takeaways from The Millionaire Fastlane, and a reading recommendation for you.
“What if I told you ‘insane’ was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years at the end of which they tell you to piss off; ending up in some retirement village hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time? Wouldn’t you consider that to be insane?” – Steve Buscemi
Book Summary of The Millionaire Fastlane
Starting off in The Million Fastlane, DeMarco presents why people should look to start a business if you want to become rich fast.
DeMarco discusses the three financial roads people are on: the Sidewalk, the Slowlane, and the Fastlane. Each of these financial roads are governed by a certain wealth equation.
The Sidewalk Wealth Equation
The Sidewalk wealth equation is:
Wealth = Income + Debt
Sidewalkers create their lifestyle in direct proportion to their income and supplement that lifestyle with extensive use of debt.
People in the personal finance community would identify these people as those who try to “Keep up with the Joneses”.
The Slowlane Wealth Equation
The Slowlane wealth equation is:
Wealth = Job + Market Investments
Under this wealth plan, income from a job funds both lifestyle and market investments. The problem here is your wealth is tied to variables which you cannot control (namely, the stock market).
In addition, you can only work so many hours in a day. It is physically impossible to work more than 24 hours in a day.
Therefore, the two parts of the equation are governed by variables you cannot control.
The Fastlane Wealth Equation
The Fastlane wealth equation is:
Wealth = Net Profit + Asset Value
where Net Profit = Units Sold x Unit Profit and Asset Value = Net Profit x Industry Multiple
All businesses leverage this equation. A Fastlaner builds wealth by providing value to their customers. They can increase their wealth by selling more units, or profiting more from each individual unit sold.
In addition, as profits increase, the underlying business asset increases in value. You can see how it is possible to get rich fast (not to be confused with “Get Rich Quick (Easy)).
If you want to get rich at a young age, you have to start a business and become an entrepreneur.
It is impossible to really rich by saving 10% of your paycheck, buying a used car, cancelling the movie channels, quitting drinking expensive Starbucks mocha lattes, saving and penny-pinching your life away, and trusting your life savings to the stock market.
“By working faithfully 8 hours a day, you many eventually get to be the boss and work 12 hours a day.” – Robert Frost
Why The Slowlane is Not the Safe Way to Go
Many of us are taught how the Slowlane will result in happiness and financial stability. Contrary to this popular opinion, DeMarco argues there are 6 reasons why The Slowlane is not a safe way to building extreme wealth:
- Trading time is trading life
- We only have roughly 100 years to live. Why should we spend 40 hours a week at a job we don’t like?
- In a job, you sell your life for money.
- Limitation on experience
- How do you gain experience? You gain experience by doing.
- The problem with a specialized skill set is, it narrows your useful value to a confined set of marketplace needs.
- I’ve learned more in the last two years of blogging than I did in the past year at work!
- No Control
- The economy tanks and you get laid off? Nothing a Slowlaner can do about it! To add insult to injury, your 401(k) balance is significantly lower and stock portfolio is hurting!
- Linda’s Bad Breath
- How many of you have co-workers you don’t like?
- A Subscription to “Pay Yourself Last”
- “Pay Yourself First” is a Slowlane doctrine. Guess what? You pay the government first, then your insurance, then your 401(K), etc.
- A Dictatorship on Income
- Guess what will happen if you were to walk into your boss’s office and demanded a 100% raise? How about an 1,000%? You’d get laughed at.
While I understand DeMarco’s points, I want you to be aware that these points are trying to get the reader uncomfortable and considering alternative viewpoints.
Is Entrepreneurship a Golden Goose?
DeMarco rips on having a 9-5 job for the majority of the introduction of The Millionaire Fastlane. It was a very interesting section to read and think about as I have a 9 to 5 job and think it’s fine for now.
However, when thinking about ways to build wealth and live a happy life, there are many downsides of a 9-5 job. Some downsides include having little to no control on who you work with, what you get paid, and what you are able to work on.
By becoming an entrepreneur, you can do what you want each day and look to provide value to your customers (without the unnecessary bureaucracy).
While it seems the Fastlane is a great way to build wealth, there are also nuances and other variables to this discussion.
While, I do agree with his stance that the stock market is a casino and people shouldn’t be so eager to tie a majority of wealth to equities, there are many risks to entrepreneurship.
Starting your own business is risky and can lead to losses if you aren’t careful. I’ve personally found entrepreneurship to be very difficult and not for everyone.
However, if you have an idea and a strong plan, it’s possible to make it.
As The Millionaire Fastlane goes on, DeMarco provides us a framework for building a successful business.
How to Build a Successful Business
All successful businesses follow the following commandments:
- The Commandment of Need
- Most businesses fail because there wasn’t a market for the product.
- There would be no point to start
- The Commandment of Entry
- How competitive is the market you are interested in?
- You wouldn’t want to start a search engine company or social media company because there is no chance of rising to the top.
- The Commandment of Control
- You need to be in control of your income streams.
- Affiliate and network marketing violate this commandment. What if the companies you are partnering with cut their payout?
- The Commandment of Scale
- Is it possible to reach millions?
- The internet is a great example of scalability. My website can run 24/7 and I have the potential to reach people all over the world.
- The Commandment of Time
- Do you have to be working all day to ensure operations are running smoothly?
- For example, if you were to start a coffee shop, you probably would have to be up at 3 AM and work all day – not the best option for a Fastlaner.
If you can build a business which does all 5 of these correctly and effectively, you can become rich.
Use The Law of Effection to Attract Wealth
Once you’ve created a business which satisfies the 5 commandments discussed above, now it’s time to tap into The Law of Effection.
The Law of Effection states that the more lives you affect or breach, both in scale or magnitude, the richer you will be.
To make millions you must serve millions in scale or a few in magnitude.
People ask, how are the Kardasians are rich? They are able to get in front of millions of people on TV. Why is Lebron James rich? He impacts the lives of millions of kids all around the world. Name any famous person and I can guarantee they all get paid very nicely because of the influence they have on many people.
You want to become a millionaire? Sell a $1 item to 1 million people, a $10 item to 100,000 people, or an $1,000 item to 1,000 people – it’s simple math! 🙂
Becoming wealthy is both an exercise in building a business, but also an exercise in changing your mindset.
Change can happen in an instant.
Takeaways from The Millionaire Fastlane
With every book you read, it is a must to have takeaways and actionable items to implement in life.
I have a goal to build extreme wealth at a young age. Since this is my goal, then I should consider starting a business and looking to tap into the Fastlane Equation.
The main takeaway from The Millionaire Fastlane is that is definitely possible to achieve financial freedom in a short amount of time by scaling a business.
Building and scaling a business will be difficult, but it is certainly a possibility over time.
A secondary takeaway is if you are looking to scale a business, you will need to be in a growing or big market.
Making more money involves providing targeted value and being compensated for your value. If you can provide immense value to thousands of people, you’ll become rich – it’s just a matter of time before the money starts rolling in.
To live unlike everyone else, you have to do what everyone else won’t.
Our Recommendation for The Millionaire Fastlane
The Millionaire Fastlane is a comprehensive book for prospective business owners and entrepreneurs.
Building wealth through a business can be difficult, but it can also be a lot of fun and much faster than a corporate job in a cubicle.
Starting a business which satisfies a need and can reach thousands of people are the first steps to creating massive wealth. After you start, consistent and intentional actions will lead to massive success over time.
If you are interested in entrepreneurship, building wealth, or business, you need to read The Millionaire Fastlane.
Are you living unlike anyone else so you can live like no one else? What are your thoughts on the concepts of Sidewalkers, Slowlaners, and Fastlaners? Do think think sacrificing a few years of your life is worth an early retirement?
