I'm lost after going down from 200k$ to 70k$ need advice please !

Thank you Guys for all your words and advices i really appreciate !

Mike2005 said:

u need just traffic.
traffic = money

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i'm into something related now ! i hope it goes well !

PhilipLuc said:

hello guys!

tbh im a bit embarrassed to write this but im kinda at a point where i really need some outside advice...I've been trying to figure this out myself for quite a long time but lately i just feel pretty lost and i dont want to keep making the same mistakes

So from 2023 to 2025 i was running a business in a bit of a gray area and it worked really well with my skills in automation coding and marketing ;at some point i was making around 500$-1k/day and managed to accumulate around 200K$ ..

then things changed completely, during the last year the business became harder and harder until it basically stopped working. i kept trying to make the same business work again for months but honestly nothing really worked
during those 3 years i also spent around 130K$ on living expenses and failed projects and now im basically left with around 70K$

the biggest problem for me now isnt even just the money its more about my mindset i got used to making relatively easy money and sometimes making 500$ or 1k$ in a day going back to building something slowly and maybe making almost nothing for months became really difficult for me... , i started so many projects during the last year and left most of them half done cuz i would start thinking this probably wont work anyway and then move to something else,i feel like i lost the ability to focus on one thing and actually give it enough time

im a very technical guy with 9+ years of coding and automation experience and i also have pretty good knowledge in marketing
i could obviously go back to freelancing but ive done freelance basically most of my life and honestly i really dont want to go back to that for now ... i would love to build my own thing

so im looking for some advice from people who maybe went through something similar if you had around 70K$ left how would you approach rebuilding, what online business models are actually working these days

- is there any legit arbitrage opportunities that can be automated or coded
-if you had strong coding + automation + marketing skills what would you personally try to build ?
-would you invest some of the 70K or keep most of it while trying different things

and probably most importantly how do you fix your mindset after getting used to easy money im not looking for some magic get rich quick method, i know there is no guarantee and i probably need to rebuild properly from zero again i just feel really stuck right now and honestly pretty discouraged after spending so much time trying to make the old business work ...

i know i have skills and i know ive made money online before but somehow right now i feel completely lost and keep making bad decisions because i just want to get back to where i was Before

if anyone has been in a similar situation and managed to turn things around i would really appreciate hearing what you did even if you just have an idea or a business model i should look into or something you tried yourself

Anything that could give me a direction would honestly mean a lot right now, and again thanks to anyone who actually takes the time to read all this and give me some advice

Click to expand...

We have opposite problems. I'm a game developer (mobile games) who recently pivoted into the iGaming industry (online casino games) and have secured a publishing deal with Stake (the biggest crypto casino platform in the world). I pitched a concept to them for a new type of instant game that offers players an entirely new emotional/psychological experience. They loved it and now I'm in. Exciting stuff considering that I just pivoted like 6 months ago.

Before I pivoted, I ran a contract-based game studio, building skill based real-money games for the biggest game company in Israel (Papaya), among other mid-size companies, before Papaya shut down the new initiative i was helping them build (PLAY ON; think TikTok but for game competitions with real money on the line). In total, over roughly a year, I made ~$30k with a very high profit margin.

Then the tragedy happened. An African client exploited a benevolent contract-clause I gave them, allowing them to request a full refund if the game quality didn't meet their satisfaction. They changed priorities internally and decided to exploit me, after I spent 5 months grinding on the game. It was heart-breaking and I couldn't do anything about it because I legally gave them the power to do so, in good faith. That was around the same time when Papaya was also pivoting. Everything worked out terribly against me and I somehow ended up with $10k of debt.

No regrets! I'm 21, young, grateful for the learning experience, and charging forward with full hunger to rebuild what was lost and much, much, more.

Back to the present. I pivoted from mobile and skill based gaming into the casino industry after attending an iGaming expo earlier this year. In just a few months after this, I pitched a game concept to the biggest crypto gambling platform in the world, Stake dot com, and landed a deal with them. This is where I'm at currently.
Only issue is, I'm not in a good place financially rn and can't afford the tooling I need to complete the game, e.g Codex AI subscription.
I spoke to other independent developers (on Discord) who also got in and have published their unique games on Stake. There's one dude making $30k/month. I know another small studio making $50k/month. This is from their top game alone. I tried suggesting a partnership with one of them but he wants me to tell him my game concept before considering anything and I refuse to do that because then he can simply build it himself and screw me over.
The opportunity is surreal. It's my ticket out of my current financial situation and into real wealth. But I'm in a very funny situation because I'm sitting on an opportunity that can pull in tens of thousands of dollars passively each month (if gamblers love my game) while at the same time not being able to tap into it because I don't have money for AI coding subscription, art outsourcing, or even internet! (I'm literally using a friend's wifi rn).
Partnering with someone who can fund the development of the game with $500 ($200 AI coding subscription + $250 art outsourcing + $50 internet) would be ideal, but I'd rather not give out a share of recurring revenue of my game, for years, all for $500 capital.
I'm currently looking into finding a freelance game dev gig to raise the needed $500. But i must hurry! Because the online casino gaming industry moves very quickly.

If we can decide on a very fair (unexploitative) revenue split, we could work on this together. There's long term potential to release more games after this my initial star concept, and build a portfolio of unique titles on Stake pulling in massive revenue each month.

It's pretty funny to see us experience similar things (falling from grace) but end up in completely opposite situations (you have capital but no engine to multiply it; I have the engine but no capital to run it). Haha.

BlackHatWorld is a very interesting place indeed.

PhilipLuc said:

hello guys!

tbh im a bit embarrassed to write this but im kinda at a point where i really need some outside advice...I've been trying to figure this out myself for quite a long time but lately i just feel pretty lost and i dont want to keep making the same mistakes

So from 2023 to 2025 i was running a business in a bit of a gray area and it worked really well with my skills in automation coding and marketing ;at some point i was making around 500$-1k/day and managed to accumulate around 200K$ ..

then things changed completely, during the last year the business became harder and harder until it basically stopped working. i kept trying to make the same business work again for months but honestly nothing really worked
during those 3 years i also spent around 130K$ on living expenses and failed projects and now im basically left with around 70K$

the biggest problem for me now isnt even just the money its more about my mindset i got used to making relatively easy money and sometimes making 500$ or 1k$ in a day going back to building something slowly and maybe making almost nothing for months became really difficult for me... , i started so many projects during the last year and left most of them half done cuz i would start thinking this probably wont work anyway and then move to something else,i feel like i lost the ability to focus on one thing and actually give it enough time

im a very technical guy with 9+ years of coding and automation experience and i also have pretty good knowledge in marketing
i could obviously go back to freelancing but ive done freelance basically most of my life and honestly i really dont want to go back to that for now ... i would love to build my own thing

so im looking for some advice from people who maybe went through something similar if you had around 70K$ left how would you approach rebuilding, what online business models are actually working these days

- is there any legit arbitrage opportunities that can be automated or coded
-if you had strong coding + automation + marketing skills what would you personally try to build ?
-would you invest some of the 70K or keep most of it while trying different things

and probably most importantly how do you fix your mindset after getting used to easy money im not looking for some magic get rich quick method, i know there is no guarantee and i probably need to rebuild properly from zero again i just feel really stuck right now and honestly pretty discouraged after spending so much time trying to make the old business work ...

i know i have skills and i know ive made money online before but somehow right now i feel completely lost and keep making bad decisions because i just want to get back to where i was Before

if anyone has been in a similar situation and managed to turn things around i would really appreciate hearing what you did even if you just have an idea or a business model i should look into or something you tried yourself

Anything that could give me a direction would honestly mean a lot right now, and again thanks to anyone who actually takes the time to read all this and give me some advice

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Suffered almost same. Keep the $65k in savings and try Prop Firms Trading business with just $5k and in 2 months, you will first get your investment back and after that keep on making profits. Feel free to drop a message if you want to discuss further.

app_pilot said:

Park most of the 70k where you can't touch it, pick one idea and give it 90 days no matter what, and sell your automation skills as a productized service while you build, so you've got income coming in and don't feel the pressure to jump ship.

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best advice

Happy to see normal nonslop posts on BHW

OP - I hope you’re doing well. It’s a battlefield out there for most of us!

I was once in a position similar to yours.

I’ve been working online since 2009. I started with small "black hat" projects, and it took 8 months before I saw the first few dollars land in my account.

The period between 2009 and 2015 was magical for me; many projects succeeded, and I earned a significant amount—especially considering I live in a third-world country. I was even able to buy cars, houses, and an apartment with the money I made.

Around 2016, my world began to fall apart. The methods I was starting didn't pan out, and others that had been generating income stopped working as well. I became increasingly frustrated.

From 2016 to 2025, my online earnings steadily declined. I had to sell my house and car, and I ended up back at nearly zero—at times, I even struggled to afford food. But I never gave up; I kept trying new things until, in 2026, I finally found something worthwhile. By all indications, I’ll soon be earning well again.

I’ve never made as much as the 200k you did; my methods were always focused on keeping expenses to a minimum—often investing zero capital. My advice is: never give up. If you managed to succeed once, you can do it again. Just keep trying, and eventually, things will work out.

Madoxx said:

Happy to see normal nonslop posts on BHW

OP - I hope you’re doing well. It’s a battlefield out there for most of us!

Click to expand...

I mean, most of the responses are fake. Maybe not on this thread, per se...but it's just bots responding to each other

pocketttt said:

My advice is: never give up. If you managed to succeed once, you can do it again. Just keep trying, and eventually, things will work out.

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If "you managed to succeed once" means nothing today. You might not ever make anything again, and if what you say is true...you spent 10 years and just didn't make it happen. So you won the lottery. You got lucky. But you'd be dumb to think that "you can repeat it" just because you did it before.

I'm in year 3 of this myself...in case you think I'm dumping on you.

Grass Popstickle said:

I mean, most of the responses are fake. Maybe not on this thread, per se...but it's just bots responding to each other


If "you managed to succeed once" means nothing today. You might not ever make anything again, and if what you say is true...you spent 10 years and just didn't make it happen. So you won the lottery. You got lucky. But you'd be dumb to think that "you can repeat it" just because you did it before.

I'm in year 3 of this myself...in case you think I'm dumping on you.

Click to expand...

The only way to make things happen is to try; you seem like a pessimistic person, and with that attitude, things will never work out. It took me some time, but I succeeded, and I’m getting back on my feet again because I never gave up.

PhilipLuc said:

hello guys!

tbh im a bit embarrassed to write this but im kinda at a point where i really need some outside advice...I've been trying to figure this out myself for quite a long time but lately i just feel pretty lost and i dont want to keep making the same mistakes

So from 2023 to 2025 i was running a business in a bit of a gray area and it worked really well with my skills in automation coding and marketing ;at some point i was making around 500$-1k/day and managed to accumulate around 200K$ ..

then things changed completely, during the last year the business became harder and harder until it basically stopped working. i kept trying to make the same business work again for months but honestly nothing really worked
during those 3 years i also spent around 130K$ on living expenses and failed projects and now im basically left with around 70K$

the biggest problem for me now isnt even just the money its more about my mindset i got used to making relatively easy money and sometimes making 500$ or 1k$ in a day going back to building something slowly and maybe making almost nothing for months became really difficult for me... , i started so many projects during the last year and left most of them half done cuz i would start thinking this probably wont work anyway and then move to something else,i feel like i lost the ability to focus on one thing and actually give it enough time

im a very technical guy with 9+ years of coding and automation experience and i also have pretty good knowledge in marketing
i could obviously go back to freelancing but ive done freelance basically most of my life and honestly i really dont want to go back to that for now ... i would love to build my own thing

so im looking for some advice from people who maybe went through something similar if you had around 70K$ left how would you approach rebuilding, what online business models are actually working these days

- is there any legit arbitrage opportunities that can be automated or coded
-if you had strong coding + automation + marketing skills what would you personally try to build ?
-would you invest some of the 70K or keep most of it while trying different things

and probably most importantly how do you fix your mindset after getting used to easy money im not looking for some magic get rich quick method, i know there is no guarantee and i probably need to rebuild properly from zero again i just feel really stuck right now and honestly pretty discouraged after spending so much time trying to make the old business work ...

i know i have skills and i know ive made money online before but somehow right now i feel completely lost and keep making bad decisions because i just want to get back to where i was Before

if anyone has been in a similar situation and managed to turn things around i would really appreciate hearing what you did even if you just have an idea or a business model i should look into or something you tried yourself

Anything that could give me a direction would honestly mean a lot right now, and again thanks to anyone who actually takes the time to read all this and give me some advice

Click to expand...

So relatable, I was making $60k a month for 2-3 years and blew through it like the money would never slow down, which it always does!

I went from $60k to $40k - said to myself "its just a slow month" which turned into a slow quarter, then it dropped to $20k, then to $10k and eventually to $2k.

This really does happen to the best of us, its easy to get caught in the hype. I spent a fortune on new ventures - my issue was I was trying to do too many ideas and projects at once and not giving enough time to any of them.

Had to go back to basics, look at what worked for me before, why it worked and just try to replicate that focus and dedication on one specific project to get it pumping again - back up to $15k or so a month profit now after 6 months of grinding - hope to back where I was soon and never repeat my same mistakes again.

I wish you all the best mate.

pocketttt said:

The only way to make things happen is to try; you seem like a pessimistic person, and with that attitude, things will never work out. It took me some time, but I succeeded, and I’m getting back on my feet again because I never gave up.

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Pessimistic? I'm realistic. "Getting back on your feet" is taking you 10 years? How many of those "tries" do you think you have left? The past says nothing of the future when it comes to luck.