A different kind of gamble.

While my choice in playing smart and close is well known now, I also have a penchant for sales which isn't quite as well known. I have always loved being in a position to buy and sell products and services people need. That being said I spent about 2 years doing direct marketing selling cheap, made in China, odds n sods to people I wandered up to "cold". Not the easiest way to make a living, but truly one of the high points of my working career. At least it was... I honestly believed I was selling quality products and while I was sure of that, I was on cloud nine. I loved going to work every day, I enjoyed training (even the idiots), and I genuinely felt as though I was a positive influence. The first few months went fantastically. I was making good money, and was surrounded by a great staff, I had the largest sales team in the office, all personally trained by me, and all loving the work.... it was awesome. But then it happened... The crash. One day I realized that a new product we brought out had a problem in it. It was flawed, to say the very least. We called head office in Toronto, and were told to blow them out anyway. The product was a steal, and even if 50% of them failed, for the price, nobody would complain. That's when I started slipping in my sales. I just couldn't get excited about selling something that I felt wasn't worth it. So that being said, the next 1 1/2 years really took a toll on me... mentally, physically and spiritually. I became depressed and could barely make enough in sales to cover my rent, food and cigarettes (yes I used to be a smoker, stick around and you may even find out a few other things you didn't know about me ;) )Eventually things got so bad, I couldn't train anymore and the sales team of champions, became the sales team of Chump... just me. After one particularly bad day, I managed to hurt my back, and it laid me up for a week. Now normally, a week off would suck, but not be the end of the world... normally. But for me, I was broke before I got hurt, I was "paid" daily, so I had no savings, and because of the place I lived in, I paid rent on a weekly basis. After 2 days, with no food, and more importantly (at the time) no cigarettes, I decided I was out of the sales business for good... by day 5 of no food, I was sure of it. I managed to contact my parents, and get some cash for a bus ticket back to B.C. When I got back I put together a resume and went to work in a warehouse, doing the 9 to 5 for just a little bit more than I needed to live on. To make a long story short, while I did enjoy the work, there was no challenge or thrill. I missed the interaction I had during sales, and the pride I felt went I first started, not to mention the money :) So it wasn't too long before a new opportunity dropped into my lap, and I was able to start my own business, with a pre-made sales list. No cold calls, and clients who new the ropes and wanted what I was selling. I was so happy and things were moving along so fast it was a major blur. I was making money like I had never made money before (my take home after tax was over 3,000 some weeks) and it seemed to be getting better every week. I had a full time employee a work van and was enjoying the "sales" game again. When I took over the business I failed to realize that there was a HUGE problem coming and I was nowhere near prepared for it. Christmas.... That may seem like no problem at all, and for a guy in the gift supply business, it was absolutely crazy. The week before Christmas was my best week to date, and my cash take home was near 4,000. I managed to get credit like I had never seen before, a line of credit for 20,000, a few credit cards with limits of 5,000 and store credit cards with a few thousand more. My Credit was fantastic, because I had learned that any time you get a bill, you over pay. Not a lot, just round it up to the next 5 dollars. Before too long I was getting calls from companies trying to give me credit, and I was eying a 78 corvette w/ T roof that I had wanted ever since I was old enough to appreciate cars. Things were going awesome. Enter Boxing day. I took Christmas day off, but boxing day was back at it (while the money was great, I found I had to be out and working every day just to make sure it kept coming in). $200. $200 *#$*@ dollars. That was my week after Christmas, before tax, before expenses, before my employees. It hurt, but I knew I could get it back. I didn't. My January sales were close to $400 and I couldn't figure it out. In 3 short months, I had maxed out everything.... and with a bill looming over my head of over $40,000 I was packing it in, and looking for a real job. Tomorrow I'll fill in the rest.... But here's where I am today While my choice in playing smart and close is well known now, I also have a penchant for sales which isn't quite as well known. I have always loved being in a position to buy and sell products and services people need. That being said I spent about 2 years doing direct marketing selling cheap, made in China, odds n sods to people I wandered up to "cold". Not the easiest way to make a living, but truly one of the high points of my working career. At least it was... I honestly believed I was selling quality products and while I was sure of that, I was on cloud nine. I loved going to work every day, I enjoyed training (even the idiots), and I genuinely felt as though I was a positive influence. The first few months went fantastically. I was making good money, and was surrounded by a great staff, I had the largest sales team in the office, all personally trained by me, and all loving the work.... it was awesome. But then it happened... The crash. One day I realized that a new product we brought out had a problem in it. It was flawed, to say the very least. We called head office in Toronto, and were told to blow them out anyway. The product was a steal, and even if 50% of them failed, for the price, nobody would complain. That's when I started slipping in my sales. I just couldn't get excited about selling something that I felt wasn't worth it. So that being said, the next 1 1/2 years really took a toll on me... mentally, physically and spiritually. I became depressed and could barely make enough in sales to cover my rent, food and cigarettes (yes I used to be a smoker, stick around and you may even find out a few other things you didn't know about me ;) )Eventually things got so bad, I couldn't train anymore and the sales team of champions, became the sales team of Chump... just me. After one particularly bad day, I managed to hurt my back, and it laid me up for a week. Now normally, a week off would suck, but not be the end of the world... normally. But for me, I was broke before I got hurt, I was "paid" daily, so I had no savings, and because of the place I lived in, I paid rent on a weekly basis. After 2 days, with no food, and more importantly (at the time) no cigarettes, I decided I was out of the sales business for good... by day 5 of no food, I was sure of it. I managed to contact my parents, and get some cash for a bus ticket back to B.C. When I got back I put together a resume and went to work in a warehouse, doing the 9 to 5 for just a little bit more than I needed to live on. To make a long story short, while I did enjoy the work, there was no challenge or thrill. I missed the interaction I had during sales, and the pride I felt went I first started, not to mention the money :) So it wasn't too long before a new opportunity dropped into my lap, and I was able to start my own business, with a pre-made sales list. No cold calls, and clients who new the ropes and wanted what I was selling. I was so happy and things were moving along so fast it was a major blur. I was making money like I had never made money before (my take home after tax was over 3,000 some weeks) and it seemed to be getting better every week. I had a full time employee a work van and was enjoying the "sales" game again. When I took over the business I failed to realize that there was a HUGE problem coming and I was nowhere near prepared for it. Christmas.... That may seem like no problem at all, and for a guy in the gift supply business, it was absolutely crazy. The week before Christmas was my best week to date, and my cash take home was near 4,000. I managed to get credit like I had never seen before, a line of credit for 20,000, a few credit cards with limits of 5,000 and store credit cards with a few thousand more. My Credit was fantastic, because I had learned that any time you get a bill, you over pay. Not a lot, just round it up to the next 5 dollars. Before too long I was getting calls from companies trying to give me credit, and I was eying a 78 corvette w/ T roof that I had wanted ever since I was old enough to appreciate cars. Things were going awesome. Enter Boxing day. I took Christmas day off, but boxing day was back at it (while the money was great, I found I had to be out and working every day just to make sure it kept coming in). $200. $200 *#$*@ dollars. That was my week after Christmas, before tax, before expenses, before my employees. It hurt, but I knew I could get it back. I didn't. My January sales were close to $400 and I couldn't figure it out. In 3 short months, I had maxed out everything.... and with a bill looming over my head of over $40,000 I was packing it in, and looking for a real job. Tomorrow I'll fill in the rest.... But here's where I am today http://www.empowernetwork.com/almostasecret.php?id=danloewen