“Be the person who roots for yourself before anyone else does. Then root for others who need encouragement, not when they’re winning or have already won but along their way and in their pursuit. Life is lonely on the road to pursuing things that are different or what others don’t understand. But reaching the limits of our human potential is hard to grasp. The journey is long and it often feels like one person clapping in the audience and that one person just so happens to be yourself.”

I wanted to start with a quote this month but I’m not sure who said it or where I heard it. I also paraphrased it and changed some things so I guess it’s my quote now LOL. We are all pursuing something and regardless of what it is, we put meaning to it. Our motivations, upbringing, circumstances, and many other things have shaped us to be who we are today. So whatever motivates you to pursue something, is for you. Nobody else. I say this for 2 reasons:

1. To remind you that the opinions of others don’t matter if you’re truly pursuing something for yourself or for your family

2. Just because you would never pursue something doesn’t mean you can’t support someone in their pursuit - because whatever that may be, we all experience similar feelings, stress, emotion, loneliness, road blocks, etc when things get hard. And they will get very difficult

There Are No Shortcuts

Speaking of when things get hard. The last few years were supposed to be “easy” for me. I had this ambitious master plan to invest into different businesses that provided “passive” income while I kept my day job and built Trusted Home Goods. By 2024-25 I could leave my day job, I would own 4 cash flowing businesses (1 actively managed and 3 passively collecting $$) and I would own 3-5 investment properties and well on the way to a nice future where I could control my time and provide amazing opportunities for my family. My goal remains the same but the timeline and path looks very different today.

As I already mentioned the road of pursuit is bound to be met with resistance, roadblocks, and failures. So, let’s talk about the failures of my “passive” business attempts. Each one of these business models was/is a viable source of income for many people today. Unfortunately, none of them panned out for me. Long story short, I invested money for a company to create and operate a “Done For You” business that required zero time from me and I would collect the profits from the business. Lesson #1: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

The “Done For You” Businesses

1. Amazon Automation

Literally, who doesn’t buy stuff on Amazon?! Of course I wanted my own Amazon store. The E-commerce industry is still insanely profitable and expanding rapidly but it’s also very cut throat, especially on Amazon. In order to become a seller on Amazon you need to:

• Create an LLC

• Pass the background and identity verification checks

• Get mail verification from Amazon to your business address

• Meet with an Amazon rep over video chat to prove you’re the human you say you are.

That all had to be done by me. But after that every else was done by the company I was working with. The company had a large team of Virtual Assistants from overseas that did product research on popular selling products on Amazon. They would find and sell similar products on my Amazon store. When orders would come in the Virtual Assistants would fulfill the orders. Frankly, I didn’t care where they were getting the products from or how they were fulfilling the orders as long as the customers received what they ordered.

This seemed to be going well for about 6 weeks and I started to see a little profit and potential for massive scaling - so I was very excited. All of the sudden within a matter of days I received 6-7 cease and desist letters at my front door from Nestle, Crystal Geyser, Purina, and Progresso to immediately stop selling their products because I don’t have permission.

I should have known this because I have to get permission on Trusted Home Goods to resell anybody’s products - duh. This lead to a suspension on Amazon and a review of my account which took 90 days. In the meantime, they froze all the money in my Amazon Seller account from the purchases to this point. After their 90 day review they banned my name, address, and my store from selling on Amazon for life and kept all the money which a was about $3,200. So who doesn’t buy from Amazon anymore - the answer is me.

The company I worked with ended up closing their AMZ Automation services but made things right with me and other clients. This portion of the company was not aligned with their core product offerings (which was Real Estate Investing). So we got life time access to all of their real estate investing courses, coaching programs, mentorships, and conferences. I went out to Las Vegas to golf with the founder, Ryan Pineda (far left below), and talk about Trusted Home Goods and various other business topics that have made him a multi-millionaire Entrepreneur, Real Estate Investor, Christian, Father, Husband - just an overall stand up guy.

2. Facebook Shops and Marketplace

This was pretty much the same business model as the Amazon Store except using Facebook Shops and my personal Facebook Marketplace. I used a different company for this one and it was going on congruently with my Amazon store so I was still optimistic about someone else creating e-commerce shops for me. Plus I negotiated it as a bonus add-on for investing in another “Done For You” service referenced below.

The results of the Facebook Shops and marketplace were pretty much identical except on Facebook didn’t keep any money and they just suspended me from using Marketplace for a while. As of today I am allowed to use Facebook Marketplace and Shops again. Luckily FaceBook is more understanding than Amazon.

3. Freight Trucking Shipments

This was the mother load of all “Done For You” services, the crème de la crème. The juiciest piece of passive income you can think of - it was so enticing I just about could have sold anyone into the same service along side of me.

Imagine profit sharing off the shipping loads of freight trucking services and hazmat loads like oil, gas, and other liquids. The company I worked with took on partners to scale their Freight trucking fleet at a very rapid pace. For a lump sum of capital you were partnered with them to profit share a 50/50 split off the profits of your designated freight truck. The company would use your capital to:

• Purchase a semi-truck

• Prepare all trucking documentation with the Department of Transportation

• Staff the truck with a driver

• Broker the freight loads

• Assume all insurance liability

• Assume all repair responsibility

• And we would get paid passive income monthly. As long as the truck was on the road and driving, there was money to be made.

So what could go wrong? They scaled way too fast. They couldn’t keep up with the demand and expectations of the partners they took on. I was the last partner to sign up before they closed the investment opportunity. After making your investment, The expectation was it would take about 4-6 months to purchase the truck, finalize paperwork, hire a driver, and broker your first load. Below is a look at some other investors Profit & Loss statements. We were told that we would split the gross profit line 50/50 based on monthly performance. So talk about a juicy opportunity. There was hundreds of these P&L’s being shared based on the trucks already on the road for other investors.

We were urged to be patient during the fulfillment process because there was a long line of partners waiting and the fulfillment timeline just kept getting pushed back. 4-6 months turned into 6-9 months, which turned into 9-12 months, which turned into 15 months.

The pushed back timelines resulted in many investors filing lawsuits against the company which tied up their resources. At the same time, interest rates in the economy were creeping up from all time lows. The method they were using to finance trucks had completely evaporated. And lastly, the post COVID the freight trucking market was cooling off in the industry.

The company I was working with was in the perfect storm of “uh oh”. They wound up terminating 90% of partnerships due to hostile relationships and lawsuits. Then about 4 weeks later they sent a notice that they had to file bankruptcy and this is the last time we would hear from them.

I received the out of business bankruptcy notice via email on a Friday night at a comedy show, moments before the headliner comedian was about to take the stage. I was no longer in a laughing mood. And If you were at the comedy show with me and saw me crying of laughter, it was actually just me crying.

So, What Did I Learn?

1. There are NO short cuts

2. I lost a healthy amount of money but I’m still alive, happy, healthy, and have so much to be thankful for. I live a very fortunate life still

3. Failure doesn’t define me

4. Don’t ever stop trying

So that’s what I’ve generally learned in some form or fashion. There isn’t a magic bullet or pill. Money certainly doesn’t grow on trees. It requires attention, focus, effort, education, skill, a little luck, and a lot hard work. I am starting to see these in small wins with Trusted Home Goods after 3 years of working on it every single day.

So what, I failed. I’ve already failed so many times in my life. But that isn’t stopping me. It only makes me more confident that I’m getting closer to finding something that works. Failure doesn’t define me, my consistent and persistent action defines me. I have so much to be grateful for. I love my wife and we have a great support system in our family and friends. I am truly grateful for all of you who are even reading this.

It’s funny what they don’t tell you when you first start CrossFit, the fitter you get, the harder it actually gets. You have to push harder every day just to see the slightest margin of improvement. That truth runs parallel in so many aspects of life. The better you get at something, the harder you have to work to continue to get better. It’s a battle to pick yourself up each day to fight for what you deserve. But what you think you deserve is what you’ll get. So be your biggest fan, route for yourself, and route for others. Don’t be scared to fail, learn from those mistakes and keep moving forward no matter what. I’m routing for you, I love you all!

PS Personal Updates from The Barbetto’s

House Hunting! We’ve been looking for about 4 weeks now and the market is in a tough spot. Since we currently own a place, we are not in a rush to buy something that isn’t what we want. But there’s not a lot of inventory, so when we see a house we like, there’s still a crazy bidding war over it. With interest rates high and inventory low, this isn’t ideal for the buyer. But we’re ready to act on something and at least we are ahead of the spring crowd. Besides the longer we wait, the more money we’re saving anyway. We are patient and optimistic

CrossFit Open! Year 9 for me and Year 10 for Kara. We just finished Week 1 and it was a decent first week. After 3 weeks of “Tests” aka workouts - the top 25% of CrossFitters move on to the Quarterfinals stage where they complete an additional 5 works out to advance to a Regional sSemi-Finals stage. The top Semi-Final athlete then move on to the CrossFit Games to find the “Fittest on Earth.” We typically advance to the quarterfinals stage of the season so stay tuned!

Today is Day 45 of 75Hard! My body is pretty damn sore but I feel like a boss. Here are my takeaways so far

• I don’t miss alcohol

• I’m pretty sick of spinach

• I miss my Doritos with lunch

• I’m eating nearly double the food daily - but all healthy

• I have way more energy and found I don’t need caffeine although I enjoy it

• I am crushing books - almost done my 3rd one of the year

• I always feel ready to workout

• I feel very busy balancing everything - but setting my priorities at night for the next day have been a great way to stay focused and organized

• In the beginning my second workouts and outdoor workouts were pretty low intensity and low volume. Since it’s getting warmer outside I have stepped it up a notch. I am able to do more activities and also bring gym equipment outside. I can share what a typical week of working out looks like next month

• Next time I send a blog, I’ll be done. Saturday April 6 is my first free day - I’m still deciding what I want to take away from this challenge but I will be happy to have some additional time back

We Served at Ronald McDonald House This Past Month! I’d like to make serving in the community a more regular thing, maybe every other month. If anyone has ideas I’d love to hear them!

Here is a picture of Emmy