Is There Room for Non-Techies in the Fastlane? CENTS Framework seems impossible to satisfy nowadays

[alexXx9]

Hey Fastlane Friends,

I've got to vent a bit – it feels like if you're not a software developer these days, the opportunities for the average Joe to start a solid business are getting slim. I've been trying to step back from my Amazon business and dive into something that fits the CENTS model, but I keep hitting walls.

Software seems to be where it's at, but for someone without a programming background, that hill looks more like a mountain. I've been down a few paths looking for alternatives, and they all seem to have their share of roadblocks:

• Rank & Rent: Getting a website to the top of Google and renting it out sounded great at first. Cons: But you're playing by Google's rules, and they can change the game overnight. After the last update, a lot of sites just tanked. Plus, Google's SGE without counting the 4th spot in the adsense section now eating up more of the search results page, squeezing out the little guy.
• Blogging: Starting a blog to sell services or digital products was another idea. Cons: Traffic is too tied to Google's SEO, and with AI set to churn out content at warp speed, standing out is getting tougher by the day.
• SaaS - No-Code SaaS: This is tricky without tech expertise. Even with no-code solutions, I'd be dependent on another platform, which doesn't feel very secure.
• Newsletters: They're trendy, but to me, they seem more like a tool than a full-fledged business model.

I'm all for solving problems, but with the way Google is squeezing small publishers, AI snatching content, ad costs skyrocketing, and the wave of online money-making competition, it feels like the deck is stacked against us. I've been at this for over six months, and I need something that can do better than what I have with Amazon. But with the way things are changing with AI and search engines, it seems like the opportunities for success are fading fast.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Are there opportunities I'm not seeing, or is it really getting tougher out there for someone without a software background?

Thanks for letting me share. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

It's not impossible, it's just that too many people aren't willing to put in the work. Few want to get their hands dirty.

They want "plug and play" -- where the gold lies in "persevere and play"

Here's a good example:

IDEA - EXECUTION - Take it: Six-figure local service opportunity (Better than copywriting!)

I have a business idea for someone who wants it. Someone please do this instead of copywriting or freelancing. You'll report back having made 6 figures in no time. Reverse osmosis water filteration systems are very popular right now for good reason. City water is F*cking gross and full of...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[MitchC]

Did we read the same book?

Find a problem and solve it. Provide value.

No idea what google and all these get rich quick make money online style “businesses” you mention in your thread have to do with it.

I think you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

You probably knew someone would reply with this as you addressed it in the thread “I’m all for solving problems” and it must be frustrating to hear, I wish I could word it differently or give a more concrete answer but seriously this is just the wrong way to come up with a business idea.

 

[DoTheWork]

• Rank & Rent: Getting a website to the top of Google and renting it out sounded great at first. Cons: But you're playing by Google's rules, and they can change the game overnight. After the last update, a lot of sites just tanked. Plus, Google's SGE without counting the 4th spot in the adsense section now eating up more of the search results page, squeezing out the little guy.
• Blogging: Starting a blog to sell services or digital products was another idea. Cons: Traffic is too tied to Google's SEO, and with AI set to churn out content at warp speed, standing out is getting tougher by the day.

I don't recommend something that relies on Google. It doesn't follow CENTS closely enough unless you diversify and do Google, YouTube, and several other platforms all at once.

I found out the hard way and lost an estimated $400,000 (at least) in enterprise value and profits since September because I relied on Google. For me, that would've been a life-changing amount.

I'm all for solving problems, but with the way Google is squeezing small publishers,

Google doesn't need to be at the center of how you solve problems.

Also, if you have a non-techie background, I'd argue that it could be to your advantage. Many tech people get caught up in the constant designing, tweaking, etc. and spend less time growing the business. As a non-techie, you'd be forced to get help which would allow you to focus on business growth.

 

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[Jon822]

You're falling into the false dichotomy trap of best or nothing. Are tech-based businesses objectively better when ranked through a CENTS lens? Yes. Do you think the multi-millionaires or billionaires who created non-tech companies care?

View: https://media.giphy.com/media/1GT5PZLjMwYBW/giphy.gif

The only problem you're looking to solve is your "I want more money" problem and you're looking for the fastest and easiest way to accomplish it. That's why you're tunnel visioning on tech but you don't want to do the work associated with it.

Here's an analogy for you: "I need to travel to a place that's x miles away. I looked up the fastest way to travel and it turns out it's private jets. Should I just accept the fact that I can't afford one and walk?" You're trying to optimize a vehicle choice before you even know where you're going.

Find a problem that makes CENTS > Solve it > Sell it. It doesn't have to be perfect: McDonald's started as one restaurant.

 

[Antifragile]

Hey Fastlane Friends,

I've got to vent a bit – it feels like if you're not a software developer these days, the opportunities for the average Joe to start a solid business are getting slim. I've been trying to step back from my Amazon business and dive into something that fits the CENTS model, but I keep hitting walls.

Software seems to be where it's at, but for someone without a programming background, that hill looks more like a mountain. I've been down a few paths looking for alternatives, and they all seem to have their share of roadblocks:

• Rank & Rent: Getting a website to the top of Google and renting it out sounded great at first. Cons: But you're playing by Google's rules, and they can change the game overnight. After the last update, a lot of sites just tanked. Plus, Google's SGE without counting the 4th spot in the adsense section now eating up more of the search results page, squeezing out the little guy.
• Blogging: Starting a blog to sell services or digital products was another idea. Cons: Traffic is too tied to Google's SEO, and with AI set to churn out content at warp speed, standing out is getting tougher by the day.
• SaaS - No-Code SaaS: This is tricky without tech expertise. Even with no-code solutions, I'd be dependent on another platform, which doesn't feel very secure.
• Newsletters: They're trendy, but to me, they seem more like a tool than a full-fledged business model.

I'm all for solving problems, but with the way Google is squeezing small publishers, AI snatching content, ad costs skyrocketing, and the wave of online money-making competition, it feels like the deck is stacked against us. I've been at this for over six months, and I need something that can do better than what I have with Amazon. But with the way things are changing with AI and search engines, it seems like the opportunities for success are fading fast.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Are there opportunities I'm not seeing, or is it really getting tougher out there for someone without a software background?

Thanks for letting me share. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

There are many of us on this forum that are not even sure how to properly use iPhones. Let alone programming!

And my business is as fastlane as it gets…

You’ve read the book wrong! Like @MitchC said. Listen to the @Kak radio show episodes… I’m sure it’s covered 10 times over.

 

[Kak]

if you're not a software developer these days, the opportunities for the average Joe to start a solid business are getting slim.

That's a BS excuse.

Look around. Everything. Literally everything is a business. 99.9 percent of it isn't software.

You're missing it all.

 

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[Aidan04]

Hey Fastlane Friends,

I've got to vent a bit – it feels like if you're not a software developer these days, the opportunities for the average Joe to start a solid business are getting slim. I've been trying to step back from my Amazon business and dive into something that fits the CENTS model, but I keep hitting walls.

Software seems to be where it's at, but for someone without a programming background, that hill looks more like a mountain. I've been down a few paths looking for alternatives, and they all seem to have their share of roadblocks:

• Rank & Rent: Getting a website to the top of Google and renting it out sounded great at first. Cons: But you're playing by Google's rules, and they can change the game overnight. After the last update, a lot of sites just tanked. Plus, Google's SGE without counting the 4th spot in the adsense section now eating up more of the search results page, squeezing out the little guy.
• Blogging: Starting a blog to sell services or digital products was another idea. Cons: Traffic is too tied to Google's SEO, and with AI set to churn out content at warp speed, standing out is getting tougher by the day.
• SaaS - No-Code SaaS: This is tricky without tech expertise. Even with no-code solutions, I'd be dependent on another platform, which doesn't feel very secure.
• Newsletters: They're trendy, but to me, they seem more like a tool than a full-fledged business model.

I'm all for solving problems, but with the way Google is squeezing small publishers, AI snatching content, ad costs skyrocketing, and the wave of online money-making competition, it feels like the deck is stacked against us. I've been at this for over six months, and I need something that can do better than what I have with Amazon. But with the way things are changing with AI and search engines, it seems like the opportunities for success are fading fast.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Are there opportunities I'm not seeing, or is it really getting tougher out there for someone without a software background?

Thanks for letting me share. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

This is complete bullshit. I don't have the mental capacity to explain why at the moment, but this is such a common excuse.

"oh no, I can't code!!!! big tech CEOS have so much money and I can't code!!!!"

See the desk you're sitting at? The chair you're sitting on? The computer you're using? Someone made these things. Not only did they make these things, but they innovated on previous designs and inventions to provide a unique value skew.

Who takes out your garbage? Who keeps your lights on? Where do you shop? What restaurants do you go to?

All businesses.

Pull your head out of your a$$.

 

[Kevin88660]

Hey Fastlane Friends,

I've got to vent a bit – it feels like if you're not a software developer these days, the opportunities for the average Joe to start a solid business are getting slim. I've been trying to step back from my Amazon business and dive into something that fits the CENTS model, but I keep hitting walls.

Software seems to be where it's at, but for someone without a programming background, that hill looks more like a mountain. I've been down a few paths looking for alternatives, and they all seem to have their share of roadblocks:

• Rank & Rent: Getting a website to the top of Google and renting it out sounded great at first. Cons: But you're playing by Google's rules, and they can change the game overnight. After the last update, a lot of sites just tanked. Plus, Google's SGE without counting the 4th spot in the adsense section now eating up more of the search results page, squeezing out the little guy.
• Blogging: Starting a blog to sell services or digital products was another idea. Cons: Traffic is too tied to Google's SEO, and with AI set to churn out content at warp speed, standing out is getting tougher by the day.
• SaaS - No-Code SaaS: This is tricky without tech expertise. Even with no-code solutions, I'd be dependent on another platform, which doesn't feel very secure.
• Newsletters: They're trendy, but to me, they seem more like a tool than a full-fledged business model.

I'm all for solving problems, but with the way Google is squeezing small publishers, AI snatching content, ad costs skyrocketing, and the wave of online money-making competition, it feels like the deck is stacked against us. I've been at this for over six months, and I need something that can do better than what I have with Amazon. But with the way things are changing with AI and search engines, it seems like the opportunities for success are fading fast.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Are there opportunities I'm not seeing, or is it really getting tougher out there for someone without a software background?

Thanks for letting me share. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

The reverse seems to be true.

Because of Ai tools such as chatgpt it becomes easier for non-coders to navigate many of the business opportunities. The bar is lowered.

Whereas for coders the bar is raised. You cannot use software to create a solution that could be easily answered by an ai tool. The bar is raised.

The landscape is getting disrupted if you have not noticed.

The field of opportunities where coding background is an advantage but not prerequisite has expanded greatly.

 

[IceCreamKid]

Are there opportunities I'm not seeing, or is it really getting tougher out there for someone without a software background?

There's still a lot of opportunity, but our society is lazy AF now so we just want to make millions by clicking a few buttons. I'm convinced that's the primary reason why there's such a high failure rate in this arena.

There's a company called Poop 911 and they scaled to 60 locations nationwide. All they do is pick up poop on a subscription basis.

Who would've known you could go fastlane in the poop arena? Opportunity is everywhere.

 

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[Andy Black]

Problems = Opportunites

 

[heavy_industry]

it feels like if you're not a software developer these days, the opportunities for the average Joe to start a solid business are getting slim

How did you come to this conclusion?

You could be scraping dog shit off the ground and make Fastlane money.

Business means solving problems and getting paid for it.

You may or may not need some level of technical expertise (yours or your team's), depending on what problem you are trying to solve, but don't confuse the business itself with the tools you end up using to build it.

---

This topic has been discussed at length recently:

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[MTF]

If you don't want to do software, offline businesses, or content businesses that rely on Amazon/Google etc., then productized services can work very well. But they're harder to scale than the models you mentioned.

 

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[The One]

@heavy_industry and @IceCreamKid

The reason why many aren’t placing in the hard work as we have been brainwashed to do minimal things to reach so called “success“. that programming has made us believe that you can make millions if not trillions with literally a few clicks Or barely any effort.

and yes, once I was a fool. Honestly, understand CENTS and read the 12 months to a million by Ryan Daniel. Dw it’s a book recommended by MJ.

Also, brainwashing and all is just an excuse for not thinking properly in the first place. not reflecting

 

[heavy_industry]

that programming has made us believe that you can make millions if not trillions with literally a few clicks Or barely any effort.

When you have courses to sell, you have to persuade your audience to believe that software development is their magical ticket to wealth.

And this is exactly what I think happened with this thread:

it feels like if you're not a software developer these days, the opportunities for the average Joe to start a solid business are getting slim

^ This sounds exactly like a sales pitch for some scammy course.

Being in the software or digital products business has very unique advantages, namely:

• Ability to start without financial capital
  • You only need human capital i.e. your brain.
• Geographical independence
  • You could live in California or Pakistan and get the same results.
• High barrier of Entry
• Infinite Scale
• Minimal logistics

However:

1. This industry is not for everyone.

2. This industry is not the only one.

 

[BizyDad]

• Rank & Rent: Getting a website to the top of Google and renting it out sounded great at first. Cons: But you're playing by Google's rules, and they can change the game overnight. After the last update, a lot of sites just tanked. Plus, Google's SGE without counting the 4th spot in the adsense section now eating up more of the search results page, squeezing out the little guy.
• Blogging: Starting a blog to sell services or digital products was another idea. Cons: Traffic is too tied to Google's SEO, and with AI set to churn out content at warp speed, standing out is getting tougher by the day.
• Newsletters: They're trendy, but to me, they seem more like a tool than a full-fledged business model.

Been hearing about these things for 15 years...

These are the best ideas you can come up with, huh?

I've been at this for over six months, and I need something that can do better than what I have with Amazon.

Quitting because 6 months is too long?

Okay, what are you going to commit to?

I'm all for solving problems,

Really? Do tell...

What are you capable of solving?

with the way Google is squeezing small publishers, AI snatching content, ad costs skyrocketing, and the wave of online money-making competition, it feels like the deck is stacked against us.

If you had a contractor's license and the ability to find people and lead them, I could start 15 different business ideas with you as a partner.

Shoot with these skills plus some win win sales talk, maybe you can take over a Boomer's existing business.

Oh, you don't have any of these skills.

Okay, so again, what problems can you solve, and who can you solve them for?

 

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[Oso]

I'm in tech. While I've made great money from it, it's exhausting. The amount of information to learn, how quickly everything evolves, AI, dealing with Google, analyzing data non-stop, trying to find talent, etc. Even if you have capital and you're starting a software company, you still need to understand tech enough to know who you need to hire, what roles they need to fill, etc.

The greatest perks are obvious: you can learn most of it for free, you can launch an app/web service/etc. with next to 0$ capital, scalability, etc. Furthermore, if you have both the ability to focus while learning, and the actual time to dedicate to learning, it will certainly pay off at some point.

All of that said, I genuinely believe the best fastlane opportunities are offline, so much so that...

If you had a contractor's license and the ability to find people and lead them, I could start 15 different business ideas with you as a partner.

... This. I've been contemplating dropping tech to pursue a contracting/handyman type business. Even something as simple as a painting service. I know I can out market, out work, and out value boomers that have been doing it for decades, even if it means temporarily filling a "job" role within the business. The startup costs are slim.

Tech is cool because everyone loves the idea of making a ton of money while sitting on their a$$ at home/<insert fancy, "digital nomad" location here>. But would you be upset about owning a construction company if said company allowed you complete financial freedom after 1 year? Would you be upset about owning a septic tank company if said company allowed financial freedom after 6 months?

The quickest path to success is being willing to do what most people aren't. Everyone is willing to do the office job for 15$/hr. How many are willing to clean animal enclosures at zoos for 80$/hr?

Cheers.

 

[MitchC]

Articles like this are a good insight into who’s actually making money

Pub-owning locals spend $27m to cross Bellevue Hill road

The Mattick family have paid about $27m to upsize across the road, joining a string of high-profile families spending big to stay in Bellevue Hill.

www.afr.com

I’ll give you a hint, it rarely tech, usually boring things or things you wouldn’t think of