Oh yes. Back in 2010 I launched one of the first websites selling yt views, likes, etc. Later on I also launched one of the first platforms where you could sign up, place orders, track all of your videos & stats, etc. Then I moved to selling fb likes, comments, etc. it was huge back then. I averaged around 40-50k a month, my record was 86k /mo (I'm sure now they're making way more, especially in ig and tk fields). My websites were ranking in top 1-3 for 'buy youtube views', 'buy facebook likes', etc. Then I lost it all. I was helping out my parents, their business went bankrupt and they had a bunch of debts pile up. I was only 18-19 making this much money, too young and naive. I barely spent anything on myself, mostly tried to pay off my parents' debts and kept supporting them and my older sister financially. They kind of got used to that and so I remained the only provider in the family for years to come. I prioritized the wants of my family over the needs of my business, which was a bad combination with me being young and not financially educated. Eventually I started having debts of my own, couldn't pay my partners on time, couldn't spend the money needed for advertising, SEO, etc. so the sales started dropping. Plus Facebook sent me a Cease and Desist letter demanding a full reimbursement of all profits made, which scared the crap out of me at the time, now I could not care less if I got it. I didn't reimburse fb anything but I decided to close down my fb websites. Anyway, I couldn't afford to stay in the niche anymore as my yt websites were sandboxed on Google (back then it was common for these niches) and I coudn't afford the SEO needed to get back into it, as others were spending 5-10k a month on SEO.
I had to start from scratch, tried different niches - affiliate marketing, video production, email marketing, etc. and eventually switched to PR related stuff. It took me years to get back into it. It's hard when you start from nothing again and there's no room for failure; no property that you own, no friends or family who could help if things go bad. So you prioritize survival over taking risks, which significantly slows things down. Eventually I saved up around 300k, wanted to buy my own place. My father started working as a cab driver and I felt kinda bad, he's a construction engineer but couldn't get a job in his field, so I thought of starting something together. We decided to start a construction business to build budget houses. I invested pretty much everything I had and it was a disaster. The worst was probably not losing the money, but the fact that I neglected the PR business and fully dedicated my time to the construction business, the reason for failing was so rediculous and out of my control that I realized it was probably the universe's way of punishing me for going off my path. Plus I realized that if I do business, it should only be in the fields I'm competent in, I knew nothing about construction and relied on my father, but he's not a business guy and it was a bad combination. Anyway, I had to start from scratch again and I'm getting back into the game. But going from making 50-80k / month at 19 and down to less than 5k /mo at 31 is a huge blow mentally, knowing what I could have achieved over that time with my knowledge and skills. I realized that I shouldn't share the burden of other people, even if it's my parents, I switched roles with them which isn't something you should do, not in your 20s at least. Another important lesson is not to be over-confident in your highs.. when you're making a lot of money and feel too safe, too comfortable, too confident that you can always get it back, that nothing can derail you from making all that money.. Always stay sharp, invest smart and diversify, don't invest all your savings into a single idea or opportunity, keep your personal expenses low until you can absolutely afford it without having much impact on your business (even if it's something virtuous like helping out your family, do the bare necessity, not excess), always prioritize your business needs, it's your bread and butter, don't tell people how much you earn, keep it modest.
Hope my story helps some folks here!
