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He Left His Project Management Career To Start A Seven-Figure, One-Person Business

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Laszlo Nadler, 35, stumbled into his million-dollar-plus, one-person business when he was trying to teach his daughter, now seven, the importance of doing what you love. “What if we do a business together?” he asked her.

At that time in 2012, Nadler, now 35, was an IT project manager who supported one of the top trading units at Bank of America . It was an excellent job, but as he spoke with his daughter, he realized it was time to start down a different path. “She got me inspired to work on something I love,” he says.

Nadler soon started Tools4Wisdom, a one-person business he runs from home in East Brunswick , N.J. The business, which sells planners filled with inspirational advice for students and other customers, is on track to bring in more than $1 million in revenue for 2015. He sells the planners on Amazon, an arrangement that gives him plenty of time to spend with his wife and children, who now include a toddler, too.

Nadler took the first step toward building the business not long after the conversation with his daughter, when he began researching business ideas. His goal was to create a side income that would give him the freedom to choose to work or not on any given day, by creating a truly automated business. “The 4-Hour Workweek got me started,” he says. “I was inspired to hack the system, to question the status quo and see if I can pull it off myself--and behold it works.”

One key step was to identify a product he would love selling. As a project manager, he was a natural at planning, and he had a passion for planners. “It started off my freshman year in college,” says Nadler. “I remember I had a semi nervous breakdown, realizing I actually had to get work done. My roommate luckily sat down and said, `Take a deep breath. Grab a piece of paper. Start writing your list.’” Nadler liked the feeling of being organized and got hooked on planning.

Deciding to sell his own planners, he began designing them and making them on the printer in his home office. He added quotes to them that expressed his approach to productivity. “I realized after all of these years that it’s not time units we have but attention units,” he says. “You may have three to four hours of true attention units per day.” He soon had more than 100 printable designs and began testing them himself. “The more I improved on my own productivity, the more content I established for my career in project management and my business selling planners,” says Nadler.

Once he had his designs down, he began experimenting with production.

“It was pretty hilarious,” he says. “I created a printer farm to test my products. I had 12 or 14 high-end laser printers. The printers were making sounds like chickens. Certain times my daughter came in and said, `Daddy is picking these eggs.’ We ended up having a lot of fun. Then came the holidays. With everyone celebrating I was literally creating my own sweat shop. I finally found a reliable supplier. That’s when business took off, in March 2013.”

The supplier was Mimeo, an online printing company based in New York City, not far from his home. “I was told by 10 people to go to overseas,” says Nadler. “I believe in supporting the U.S. economy and U.S. families. It’s almost like a family service. They’ve got my back. I can sleep soundly knowing the quality is unquestionable.”

Nadler decided to apply sell his planners on Amazon because it was easier on many fronts. He saw that Amazon could get him ranked high on Google in two to three months—something that could easily take two years for a small internet store. And he could use Amazon’s fulfillment service, so he didn’t have to pack and ship orders himself. He already had a product to test, which Amazon requires when sellers apply.

“When it comes to Amazon, your professional startup costs are close to zero,” adds Nadler. “You need a professional selling account for $49 a month.”

Fortunately, the product caught on quickly. Nadler left his job last year to take the business full time. “If you can outsource your supply chain, you have almost unlimited scaling available,” says Nadler.

To keep the business growing, Nadler spends a lot of time on customer service. “My daily focus is 80% growth related,” he says. “I spend a large amount of my time exceeding customers’ expectations. Customer service has become the number one driver of my day to day activities.” That is important, he says, because many potential customers read the reviews others have posted before they buy. “When you have 110 reviews and someone wants to buy a product, guess which one they read first? The one star,” he says.

To keep the business from devouring his free time, Nadler relies on freelance help from sites such as Upwork and Fiverr. He has hired a graphic designer and a web designer that way. He also relies on virtual assistants and uses automation.

“I automated my customer emails so I can reach out to every customer with a very personal letter giving them a chance to reply,” says Nadler. “They can reply directly to me.”

Managing all of these details may sound overwhelming, but Nadler has a way of making them fun for himself. “You can turn a boring, dry topic into a fun exciting one if you can change your question to: What creative ideas will help improve my quality of life?” he says.

He is also an avid read of books that keep him inspired. One that he loves is Essentialism by Greg McKeown. “It helps transform your focus from trying to achieve it all to picking your top 5% and shelving the rest until you accomplish your number one priority,” he says. “It really makes a difference. I feel it in my business, as well as my personal life.” Amazon Top Seller Secrets by Brad and Debra Schepp has also helped him with the practicalities of running a business, he says.

“The challenge with books for starting your own business is some mislead you,” says Nadler. “They want you to start online arbitrage—buying low and selling high—or underselling your competition. I know some people are very successful, but it’s extremely time consuming. The currency is really lifestyle. It’s not how much you make per month or year. It’s really about your return on time invested and being able to take a month off if you want to.”

Nadler believes many people can achieve what he did—if they adopt a new mindset toward work.

“It takes them a while to unlearn the industrial age misconceptions that tell us to get a good job and retire,” he says. “By the time you retire, your health is in the gutter. We’re still in an industrial age education system. Our progress moves faster than our education system keeps up.”

Want to find a product to sell on Amazon yourself? He suggests looking at top sellers in categories that interest you. “Look for a simple product that won’t have many customers’ questions or returns,” he says. “It will make your life easier.” One way to obtain a product at wholesale to sell, he suggests, is AliExpress, which will fill wholesale orders, he says.

But the key to starting a successful business, he says is ultimately to follow your passion--and stick with it every day. “When you put your mind where your heart is, your mind comes into focus,” says Nadler.