To book a VIDEO CALL with me, visit my coaching site at: HoganSynclair.me
Welcome to my blog! My name is Hogan Synclair and I have been a serial entrepreneur for over twenty years now, launching literally dozens of small businesses, either solo, or more often than not with friends and family. Ever since I was 14 years old, my focus was always on how I could launch the most lucrative business possible, with as little money as possible. When you are a teenager, the “little money” comes easy, right? Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, which I was certainly not!
The focus of this blog is to help others start their entrepreneurial adventures by writing about self-employed options that people can start with a low cash investment. Of course what is considered “low cash” is going to vary a lot depending on each person’s current life circumstances. But if you found this blog, then I am assuming the max amount you want to spend is in the $5,000 to $100,000 range. Most of the articles I write tend to focus on how to start businesses that require no more than $1,000 to $25,000 to get going.
Why am I qualified to write this blog and why should you trust my opinions? Good question. I guess the best answer is that I have been through the school of hard knocks when it comes to launching work-from-home and other small businesses. And, while I am no billionaire, I currently make a comfortable mid six-figures per year from various income streams, in addition to having built up a solid nest egg – enough that I could retire comfortably today if I wanted to. But I love work – so I keep at it!
Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Serial Entrepreneur for Over 20 Years
Certified Small Business Mentor
Serial Entrepreneur for Over 20 Years
Top Blog in Entrepreneurship Category
Dedicated to Guiding Aspiring Entrepreneurs
My life journey to entrepreneurship started with my first summer job at age 14. I didn’t have any allowance. If I wanted to go see a movie with friends or buy this or that – my dad told me I had to work for it. Have to admit I grumbled under my breath a tad, especially since all my friend got generous allowances. But even back then, I knew in the back of my mind that dad’s philosophy was the right one. So I got a summer job – moving around heavy boxes in a housewares warehouse. And when I say heavy, I mean heavy. Some of these crates, straight from China weighed up to 100 pounds, filled with ceramic dishware. And yes, we had forklifts and other gizmos. But at least half the time we had to move boxes manually, from one stack to the other, onto pallets or onto other loading equipment. It was grueling work and the boxes were filthy. I remember thank sinking feeling every time we saw an 18-wheeler pull into the bay. We had to climb in there in the heat of the summer and do our thing. If the outside temperature was 95 degrees, inside the trucks it was 110 or more! Sweaty, sweltering, tough and filthy work. After 8 hours of that, we were all filthy and there were no showers. I recall when blowing my nose, all this black gunk came out – from the layers and layers of dust those crates built up on their long journeys – from Shenzhen, China to the good old USA.
One day, on the usual 30-minute bus ride back home, I was feeling especially self-conscious. I was always sweaty and filthy after work, with dust caked in my hair and clothes. But this was a hotter day than usual, with a more packed bus than usual. I could feel the annoyed stares of people and I guess I couldn’t blame them one bit. One older lady, standing next to me, let out an exasperated huff, gave me a nasty glare, and shuffled off to stand further away from me.
There had to be an easier way to make money than this!
When I got home that night, I explained my frustration to my dad and he said something that changed my life forever. It was a pretty simple statement, “Well then why don’t you just cut lawns instead?” At that moment, a light bulb went off in my head. Several light bulbs in fact. That one statement totally changed my thinking paradigm – why work for others when I can just work for myself instead?! Yes! That was it! I didn’t need no stinking job! I could just make my own money on my own time!
I will spare you the little misadventures of starting my teenage lawn-cutting service. But suffice to say, it was a million times better than that warehouse job! Cutting lawns wasn’t as easy as I thought it be but I didn’t complain. Plus, it was fairly easy to get customers as most of our neighbors were happy to have me cut their lawns. Even better – I made MORE money cutting lawns that moving massive boxes from China.
From that first lawn-cutting, solopreneur gig at age 14, I went on to start a new business every summer – selling printing services, teaching older people computer skills, landscaping services and more. When I graduated from high school, I immediately started a drop shipping business, then an event management service. I worked at my uncle’s restaurant franchise, to learn the ropes from the inside, then launched my own franchise. Then sold that and started a whole slew of businesses with friends, family members and often just by myself. Currently I have a loan brokering business, various e-commerce stores and of course this website! The sum total of all those adventures – all the tips, tricks and what to avoid – are all written down on this blog. So get reading and get crackin’! A whole new life awaits you!