Black vans for under £3k

The nay-saying is coming across as pretty lame frankly - look at the background of a lot of successful entrepreneurs - they went balls-out, often went bankrupt a few times, but in the end the got their break.

Hell, Richard Branson started selling dodgy records out of a car boot and his mum had to bail him out when he got arrested by HMCS - I'm sure you would have all said how lame and crazy he was and he'd never amount to anything, no? Alan Sugar - started off selling car aerials out of the back of a van - what an idiot :p

Frankly I don't see much constructive or helpful advice on here at all, all I see is a gang of idiots getting their kicks out from taking potshots at an 'easy' target. It's pathetic - by all means continue your risk-averse lifestyle but just because someone else decides to try and make a go of something doesn't make you better in any way. :-/
 
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Skeeter said:
Yes Mike, because everything you have tried so far has been a great success?

Ever though about a desk job yourself? You never know, you might even like it AND it might pay consistently for a long period of time, avoiding the ups and downs you seem to generate a lot of.

Although I expect this would ruin your ability to attention whore crazy scheme threads on here. Maybe you could post "Spec me a stapler, must be back, but I wont tell you any more details as its for a 'business venture'" threads instead?
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I've done the desk job thing and I didn't particularly like it - it isn't nearly challenging enough and I like being active.

I'm not sure where the sarcastic sentence regarding success comes from, you seem to imply my past is riddled with failure, which it is not? I'm living more than comfortably right now and have done for the last 6 years, I just want to try something different.
 
MikeHiow said:
Being a lemming behind a desk may work for you, but it does not for me. You may continue sucking off the next manager for what you deem success and I'll go make my own.
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Doesn't it support your wife and child though?. Priorities mate, priorities...
 
Rich_L said:
Hell, Richard Branson started selling dodgy records out of a car boot and his mum had to bail him out when he got arrested by HMCS
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Richard Branson didn't have a young family to provide for.

I think it is a lot harder to morally take big risks when people are depending on you to put food on the table. Why can't this detailing stuff be done out of the back of the Focus/cheap estate car on weekends while working a normal job, just to see if its a viable idea and that he does indeed have the skills to pay the bills?
 
Rich_L said:
Frankly I don't see much constructive or helpful advice on here at all, all I see is a gang of idiots getting their kicks out from taking potshots at an 'easy' target.
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He's an 'easy target' because he wants to be - he knows exactly which way the threads will go and he posts in a way to encourage it. Look at his OP - he's not actually asking for anything he doesn't really already know, he posts in such a way that he's vague enough to get people begging for more detail until he eventually reveals it. Even a few posts ago he adds yet more detail - this time that actually, he's got substantial van experience already, probably more than most on here!

He enjoys being on the other side just as much, if not more so, as everyone else. Thats part of the reason why he posts the way he does. If it was simply this forum, then:

a) There would be many more MikeHiow's on here. There isn't - its ONLY him that manages to generate this sort of thread.
b) Pretty much the same thing wouldnt happen on another forum to the extent that one of the regulars actually emails us to tell us all about it.

It takes two to tango and MikeHiow is very much a willing partner so does not need or deserve your sympathy.
 
Rich_L said:
The nay-saying is coming across as pretty lame frankly - look at the background of a lot of successful entrepreneurs - they went balls-out, often went bankrupt a few times, but in the end the got their break.

Hell, Richard Branson started selling dodgy records out of a car boot and his mum had to bail him out when he got arrested by HMCS - I'm sure you would have all said how lame and crazy he was and he'd never amount to anything, no? Alan Sugar - started off selling car aerials out of the back of a van - what an idiot :p

Frankly I don't see much constructive or helpful advice on here at all, all I see is a gang of idiots getting their kicks out from taking potshots at an 'easy' target. It's pathetic - by all means continue your risk-averse lifestyle but just because someone else decides to try and make a go of something doesn't make you better in any way. :-/
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I think Richard Branson and Mike Hughes are two names that shouldn't ever appear in the same breath. Perhaps if this was the first thread full of MikeHiow BS then I'd be right there with you but here is just another in a long long succession of these threads.

P.S. I don't lead a risk-averse lifestyle at all ;)
 
MikeHiow said:
I've done the desk job thing and I didn't particularly like it - it isn't nearly challenging enough and I like being active.
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Thats a fairly sweeping statement. Are you saying ALL office/desk jobs are far to easy for you? I'm sure the boss of large multinational companies would disagree.

Your desk job may have been unchallenging, but thats hardly grounds to dismiss all desk jobs. After all, you could have been a call centre clerk or something?
 
DRZ said:
Does that happen on [super-injunction prevents me from saying] as well? Or do people follow you around posting WPM just to annoy you?
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I'll explain the wpm thing just for you.

Years a go I was useless with money and always looking for cheap ways to achieve what I wanted out of motoring. My problem was that I was far too vocal about what I wanted to do, partly because I liked hearing what others thought and partly because it created interesting conversation. Wpm was not something created for me but rather something a lot of my ideas received.

All of this stopped when I bought my vxr and everyone lived happily ever after.

As for why someone took the time to stitch me up with a member of ocuk, I'm someone who is not afraid to speak their mind and this often gets people's backs up. I can only assume whoever contacted someone on here was someone looking for a way to get back at me.
 
Fox, I'm not looking for not giving him any sympathy, just think it's pretty lame that someone like yourself who has the capability to be helpful and constructive has posted 46 times in his thread of which 3 posts are useful and 43 are you just being a nob.

Put it this way, I'm not defending MikeHiow, I know some of his threads have been lolworthy and he doesn't help himself often but there's a fine line between it being funny and being a *&^% and right now IMO the 'contributions' are definitely the latter.
 
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Rich_L said:
Fox, I'm not looking for not giving him any sympathy, just think it's pretty lame that someone like yourself who has the capability to be helpful and constructive has posted 46 times in his thread of which 3 posts are useful and 43 are you just being a nob.
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Serious question: Is it possible to help someone that simply does not want to be helped, to the extent where they go out of their way to make it as difficult as possible?

MikeHiow had no intention of being helped when he posted up this thread. Not one iota. Anyone that *does* need help finding out if black vans exist for sale is probably after a different kind of help anyway.
 
Rich_L said:
Fox, I'm not looking for not giving him any sympathy, just think it's pretty lame that someone like yourself who has the capability to be helpful and constructive has posted 46 times in his thread of which 3 posts are useful and 43 are you just being a nob.
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There is a fine line between posting something somebody doesn't want to hear but which is no less valid and being a ***, though, and where that line is, is simply a matter of opinion.

Once we'd covered the devestatingly challenging question of which vans might be black, things quickly moved on. As he intended them to when he first conceived this thread. Mike might be a lot of things, but stupid is *not* one of them.

Obviously when you are trying to imply that you feel an idea is ill-thought-out it can often be difficult not to come across as a ***.

But I like to think my posts in threads like this are at least paved with good intentions :p

And hey - look on the bright side. Whilst a few will disapprove, perhaps in much the same way that many people disapprove of Eastenders, the resulting circus act that is a MikeHiow thread clearly amuses at least a proportion of the forum - some people just pop in to say how much they enjoy the show :p
 
The moment people realise this thread was never posted for Van advice, they will start to understand a lot more about MikeHiow.

Anyone who still thinks MikeHiow is an innocent victim simply asking for advice who has been set upon by a pack of angry nasty Motors members needs to wake up. Mike is loving this.
 
DRZ said:
Serious question: Is it possible to help someone that simply does not want to be helped, to the extent where they go out of their way to make it as difficult as possible?

MikeHiow had no intention of being helped when he posted up this thread. Not one iota. Anyone that *does* need help finding out if black vans exist for sale is probably after a different kind of help anyway.
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Of course, teachers deal with people like that every day :p

I just don't get the kick of out trying to put out someone's entrepeneurial drive and spirit - it's like telling a kid that they are useless at maths and won't amount to anything because they get a few sums wrong - surely it is more constructive and helpful to actually offer advice and guidance rather than "LOL get a deskjob you failure lololol"

Meh, different folks etc - yes he definitely invites some of the lulz with the drip-feed of information but you don't kick a puppy just because you can do you :D
 
MikeHiow said:
Being a lemming behind a desk may work for you, but it does not for me. You may continue sucking off the next manager for what you deem success and I'll go make my own.
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Maybe a desk job is your safest bet with a family to support. I can only assume you have rich parents that are entertaining your ventures, which is great for you. It's just a shame you didn't protect your assets from those pesky web hosters (you know, the ones that randomly take all your assets with them when they go under) then you'd have £8k capital in your new business straight away. Let's hope you're less gung-ho with your van and cleaning hardware.

Rich_L said:
Of course, teachers deal with people like that every day :p

I just don't get the kick of out trying to put out someone's entrepeneurial drive and spirit - it's like telling a kid that they are useless at maths and won't amount to anything because they get a few sums wrong - surely it is more constructive and helpful to actually offer advice and guidance rather than "LOL get a deskjob you failure lololol"

Meh, different folks etc - yes he definitely invites some of the lulz with the drip-feed of information but you don't kick a puppy just because you can do you :D
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If you ever have a kid that plainly lacks business acumen, come back and tell us that you advised him that desk jobs are useless and that he should go and start a cleaning company with no money and no idea. Then I'll sympathise with your point of view.
 
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The interesting thing is that there probably is a bit of money in doing this on the side of a weekend. The whole go bonkers with a van thing is a daft idea, but doing a bit here and therefore until you end up having to make bigger choices is a far better idea..
 
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