Intro

[usf813]

Hi Everyone,

This post is to introduce myself and tell a little of my story. I'll get right into it:

I grew up and went to high school in Central Florida. Upon graduating, I was already sold on the scripted life and knew I was going to college to get a degree. I just didn't know what to go for. I narrowed it down to computers or business, and since business seemed more practical, I went with that. My thought was that everything is a business, so that degree would always be in demand. I graduated from college during the Great Recession and couldn't easily find a job, even with my degree, so I went to work for my family's business. I worked there for about 8 years in the Accounting Department, then 2 years in IT. I also went back to school and got my MBA after several years. Since I was part of the family, the entire time I worked there I felt like an owner and treated the business as if it was my own. I believed I was an entrepreneur even though I wasn't. Reality hit me the day I was let go as a result of a dispute between family members in which I wasn't directly involved. This was my first stent in the scripted life.

Upon leaving that company, I took the opportunity to start my own business doing what I enjoyed, which was integrating financial software systems for companies. For about a year, I worked as a consultant doing just that. I charged by the hour to build financial/IT systems for companies and also did some tax work, which brought in additional recurring revenue. When my major projects were coming to an end, I was approached by an international automotive startup to set up their first US facility's financial systems and I accepted the offer. It just sounded interesting and exciting to me. However, they wouldn't hire me as a contractor so I became an employee once again. I kept my entrepreneurial dream barely alive by keeping my recurring tax clients on the side. I realize through all of this, even having my own business, I was still living the scripted life because I was trading my time for money.

I left that job after a year and decided to try my consulting business again. This time it would be different. My wife and I had just moved to a new city and I felt like we had a fresh start. I came up with a plan to go out and meet business owners. I was going to tell them what skills I had to offer and see if they had projects I could help with. I realize now what a mistake that was. Instead of starting by indentifying a need, I tried to market my skills like an employee. Even if I had found new clients, I would've been trading time for money once again. I struggled to find new clients and by the time I realized my mistakes I was out of money, looking for employment once again.

Fast forward to my current situation: I have been an employee working in finance for a large corporation for a year and a half. Through everything, I have managed to keep one consulting client for which I file taxes each month, but the income from this is minimal. I have not actively looked for new clients because I am looking for opportunities outside of consulting, where I don't have to trade time for money. I have gotten increasingly fed up with my employer having me work long hours and finally decided I've had enough. The major issue is that I depend on the income and benefits to support my family. If I'm going to leave my job, I have to quickly find another way to support us or dip into savings...but I have a plan...

I recently identified an opportunity in my local area where rv and boat storage is in high demand. Every lot in the area is full and there are waitlists. My plan is to open my own lot as soon as possible and begin generating monthly recurring revenue not tied to my time. The initial investment would be more than I have in cash, so I would like to put some money down and finance the rest. I am already making progress and completing actions to start this new business each day. Again, I do to feel as though I can leave my job at this time as it's supporting my family and the new business won't make enough to support us at first. Therefore, I plan to keep my job while starting this business and for around the first year of the new business' operation, until it can replace at least half of my current income. The advice I've received from entrepreneur friends of mine is to quit my job now and be forced to figure it out, but I am struggling to see how that would be possible without at minimum digging into savings and losing my down payment on the business.

I recently read the books FLM and Unscripted. They are wonderful and confirm a lot of my thoughts on what is missing from my life, what needs to change to get on the right track. If anyone has any advice on how I could make a better plan to get out of the scripted life, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm happy to be on this new journey and a member of this community.

Thanks @MJ DeMarco for inspiring me to do more.

 

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