Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

[masaldana2]

I'm moving to Fort Worth this Friday

 

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[Vigilante]

I love this thread @Vigilante. One of the things I am struggling with right now is that I feel like I am doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing. While they are moving to their dream destination as far as geography, climate, and weather....I'm in this strange scenario where I feel like I might have to leave the beautiful weather, seasons and topography of the Carolinas to go to the dry desert area of TX where there is no ocean or mountains or greenery like there is here, and that bothers me.

But, I feel like my life here has become stagnant and that it's time for a change. The business I am working on could be done from anywhere really. But there are reasons why perhaps I should go to Texas (family, friends, no income taxes, the manufacturers I want to use for my business are there, major metro, singles, more opportunities, etc)....but it's not my dream place.

I have been vacillating back and forth about it and trying to make a decision that would be 'good for me'. Honestly what I would prefer right now I couldn't afford anyway, like spending the summer in Santorini, Greece, or going back to Italy to live in Tuscany for 6 months. So... I have to face reality. I can't stay here anymore just for the weather. Something has to change soon. Thoughts anyone?

Listen.

My top three areas that were in consideration :

1. Gulf coast of Florida
2. Dallas, Texas
3. Charlotte, NC (whose personal income taxes are declining to the point of reasonable.)

I LOVE the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and there are a handful of forum members (both old and new) there. Awesome area, awesome amenities, awesome culture. It ended up just not being warm enough for us, but we gave strong consideration (to the point of looking for houses) to Dallas. So, if you need a change of pace and scenery to recalibrate, I would not hesitate to recommend DFW.

 

[Vigilante]

So. Many. Mosquitos.

http://www.kare11.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/05/19/top-20-mosquito-cities-pest-control/27571673/

 

[amp0193]

Interesting. More mosquitos in DFW than Minneapolis.

I guess I spent too many summer on my Grandparents' farm in dassel/cokato, MN. Gave me a bad impression.


And yes, DFW is an awesome scene. Denton area is a really great place to live.

 

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[Vigilante]

Interesting. More mosquitos in DFW than Minneapolis.

I guess I spent too many summer on my Grandparents' farm in dassel/cokato, MN. Gave me a bad impression.


And yes, DFW is an awesome scene. Denton area is a really great place to live.

It's kind of flawed. Minnesotans are just too cheap to pay for pest control services.

 

[Iwokeup]

Listen.

My top three areas that were in consideration :

1. Gulf coast of Florida
2. Dallas, Texas
3. Charlotte, NC (whose personal income taxes are declining to the point of reasonable.)

I LOVE the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and there are a handful of forum members (both old and new) there. Awesome area, awesome amenities, awesome culture. It ended up just not being warm enough for us, but we gave strong consideration (to the point of looking for houses) to Dallas. So, if you need a change of pace and scenery to recalibrate, I would not hesitate to recommend DFW.

I'd also vote for Central Texas.

 

[The Duc]

I love this thread @Vigilante.
I have been vacillating back and forth about it and trying to make a decision that would be 'good for me'. Honestly what I would prefer right now I couldn't afford anyway, like spending the summer in Santorini, Greece, or going back to Italy to live in Tuscany for 6 months. So... I have to face reality. Thoughts anyone?

I'm spending all summer in Greece. Did the same last year too. It really doesn't cost anymore than staying in the US.

 

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[Vigilante]

Think about it.

 

[Bellini]

Think about it.

LOL. Love it.

 

[Vigilante]

My wife rented a condo in Scottsdale for the month of February, where she could vacation... where a dozen or more people from the fast lane forum... live.

 

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[johnp]

@Vigilante

Just want to say thanks for this thread. I realized that we can change Latitudes, even if it's for a very short period of time.

After my wife got home from work on Friday we were sitting around trying to figure out what to do for the weekend. My suggestion was to just get in the car and drive somewhere..like Florida. She said that we can't do that because it's too far, there wasn't enough time, we didn't have a plan, etc... Then I said, "why?, what's stopping us other than all of those excuses?" So...

We got in the car at 8pm and headed 12 hours south driving all night until we finally arrived to the beaches. We didn't plan a single thing except for the hotel. Everything worked out, it actually ended up being our best trip ever.

We only stayed for 2 nights, then got back in the car and drove all of the way home, with two dogs. But in that short period of time I experienced a whole new culture, I learned that people actually boil peanuts (which I hated), I discovered a few business ideas, and I think that we found a new place to live someday.

I know that this isn't exactly what you're talking about because it wasn't a full blown move, but I realized that even a short-term change in latitudes can add a lot of charge back into life. And looking back, the journey was actually more fun than arriving to the destination itself. It was hard and I wanted to quit at times...It reminded me very much of the journey to the fastlane.

I added a pic of the beach at 7am after driving all night. Nothing beats the feeling of driving 12 hours to step out onto the beach in the morning when most people are still asleep.

 

[SteveO]

I moved the opposite direction than most people. I spent 41 years of my life in San Diego. I was only .25 miles from the beach during my last few years there. The move to AZ was initially for retirement.

I asked each family member to research and come up with two places that they would like to live. Nobody had any input. So I suggested either St. George, Utah or Prescott, AZ. We settled on Prescott.

Well we lived there a few years until a divorce got in the way. I moved to Scottsdale and have been there since.

My wife and I have talked about heading back to CA. (She is originally from So Cal also). We decided that we liked it here in the desert for a number of reasons.

So, as you suggest @Vigilante , I live where I want for the reasons that I want. Although another house in Nevada might come into play in the future.

 

[Vigilante]

@Vigilante

Just want to say thanks for this thread. I realized that we can change Latitudes, even if it's for a very short period of time.

After my wife got home from work on Friday we were sitting around trying to figure out what to do for the weekend. My suggestion was to just get in the car and drive somewhere..like Florida. She said that we can't do that because it's too far, there wasn't enough time, we didn't have a plan, etc... Then I said, "why?, what's stopping us other than all of those excuses?" So...

We got in the car at 8pm and headed 12 hours south driving all night until we finally arrived to the beaches. We didn't plan a single thing except for the hotel. Everything worked out, it actually ended up being our best trip ever.

We only stayed for 2 nights, then got back in the car and drove all of the way home, with two dogs. But in that short period of time I experienced a whole new culture, I learned that people actually boil peanuts (which I hated), I discovered a few business ideas, and I think that we found a new place to live someday.

I know that this isn't exactly what you're talking about because it wasn't a full blown move, but I realized that even a short-term change in latitudes can add a lot of charge back into life. And looking back, the journey was actually more fun than arriving to the destination itself. It was hard and I wanted to quit at times...It reminded me very much of the journey to the fastlane.

I added a pic of the beach at 7am after driving all night. Nothing beats the feeling of driving 12 hours to step out onto the beach in the morning when most people are still asleep.
View attachment 9784

I love this story. This story breathes life and hope. Excellent. FREEDOM. You can do... what ever... you want to do.

And I bet your wife learned a bit about what it might feel like to be a free agent.

 

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[Vigilante]

I moved the opposite direction than most people. I spent 41 years of my life in San Diego. I was only .25 miles from the beach during my last few years there. The move to AZ was initially for retirement.

I asked each family member to research and come up with two places that they would like to live. Nobody had any input. So I suggested either St. George, Utah or Prescott, AZ. We settled on Prescott.

Well we lived there a few years until a divorce got in the way. I moved to Scottsdale and have been there since.

My wife and I have talked about heading back to CA. (She is originally from So Cal also). We decided that we liked it here in the desert for a number of reasons.

So, as you suggest @Vigilante , I live where I want for the reasons that I want. Although another house in Nevada might come into play in the future.

You.

Live.

Where other people

vacation.

 

[Andy Black]

@Vigilante

Just want to say thanks for this thread. I realized that we can change Latitudes, even if it's for a very short period of time.

After my wife got home from work on Friday we were sitting around trying to figure out what to do for the weekend. My suggestion was to just get in the car and drive somewhere..like Florida. She said that we can't do that because it's too far, there wasn't enough time, we didn't have a plan, etc... Then I said, "why?, what's stopping us other than all of those excuses?" So...

We got in the car at 8pm and headed 12 hours south driving all night until we finally arrived to the beaches. We didn't plan a single thing except for the hotel. Everything worked out, it actually ended up being our best trip ever.

We only stayed for 2 nights, then got back in the car and drove all of the way home, with two dogs. But in that short period of time I experienced a whole new culture, I learned that people actually boil peanuts (which I hated), I discovered a few business ideas, and I think that we found a new place to live someday.

I know that this isn't exactly what you're talking about because it wasn't a full blown move, but I realized that even a short-term change in latitudes can add a lot of charge back into life. And looking back, the journey was actually more fun than arriving to the destination itself. It was hard and I wanted to quit at times...It reminded me very much of the journey to the fastlane.

I added a pic of the beach at 7am after driving all night. Nothing beats the feeling of driving 12 hours to step out onto the beach in the morning when most people are still asleep.
View attachment 9784

I love this too. Best trips I ever made were on a motorbike with toothbrush and credit card and a vague direction in our head like "The South of France". It's liberating to forget "have to", "need to", "should do", and just do.

 

[Bellini]

My wife rented a condo in Scottsdale for the month of February, where she could vacation... where a dozen or more people from the fast lane forum... live.

I wish I had known.... I would have gone with her. ha. Just kidding

Seriously, I would love to rent a place in Scottsdale for a month if I could find somewhere that was affordable. Just to hang out and have a change of scenery. I only spent 1 night and day in Scottsdale before so really didn't get to see much, but I loved what I did see. It's funny, when I was going through New Mexico and Arizona I felt like I was on another planet. Kinda like Mars

 

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[GuestUser140]

The business we have, for the most part is automated and outsourced. We've also grown to this point without building a huge physical infrastructure. The reason I am looking for distribution partnerships is so that the business can continue to scale, but I want to use someone else's infrastructure to do it so that I don't need to own physical assets that require maintenance and physical presence.

You've heard me talk before about the fact that we use a Regus office. We have an office currently in Minneapolis, and several months ago I triggered an office lease termination, that expires at the end of this month. So, at the end of this month, we will have no physical office. We still have a small warehouse in Minneapolis, but that may or may not be eliminated all together. 80% of your business will generally come from 20% of your activities, and that is true for our business as well. If I can automate and outsource the 20% of the activity that generates the 80% of the income... we might just cut the rest loose all together. I want to eliminate the dependence on any location that requires manual intervention. So, if I can't get some of the items to be less "hands on" manual intensive, we might just have to cut those and move on. They're not big contributors to the big picture anyway. Never fall in love with your "stuff..." because it's just stuff.

So, we switched with Regus over to a virtual office. http://www.regus.com/products/virtual-offices/index.aspx

Technically, we become location independent. There are several hundred Regus offices in North America, and now we can walk in and use any of them. In addition, we still have an "office address" for all packages, mailing, phone answering, etc... we have a business presence. It will sit in Minneapolis for a while, until I transfer it to Florida. Regus virtual offices can be transferred anywhere. So, when ever we want, we flip a switch, turn it off in Minneapolis, and turn all of it to Florida (or where ever). No longer tethered to an office.

Call me boring, but this is the most interesting part of the whole thread.. that what enables freedom.

You run e-commerce stores, right? Do your employees ship product, or is it all outsourced to third parties? How many employees do you have?

Why the Regus office though? Do you feel you need it to get things done, or is just to have an address?

Edit: I'm asking because I can see me/my business going a similar route not too long from now.

Thanks!

 

[Vigilante]

Call me boring, but this is the most interesting part of the whole thread.. that what enables freedom.

You run e-commerce stores, right? Do your employees ship product, or is it all outsourced to third parties? How many employees do you have?

Why the Regus office though? Do you feel you need it to get things done, or is just to have an address?

Edit: I'm asking because I can see me/my business going a similar route not too long from now.

Thanks!

You run e-commerce stores, right?
Yes.

Do your employees ship product, or is it all outsourced to third parties?
We do both. 95% probably of what we ship is shipped by fulfillment centers for us.

How many employees do you have?
A handful seasonally. I would like to have zero. However, I don't count the fulfillment center employees, the Regus employees, the Fedex/UPS/USPS/DHL employees, the Amazon employees, the eBay international shipping employees, or everyone else's liability as my own. I can scale using their infrastructure. I also outsource a lot of things traditional employees would do. What we keep in house is sourcing, marketing direction, production scheduling, and social media. And customer escalations. The most I have had is a dozen W2 employees a few years back. I would like that number to be as close to zero as it can be. The reduction in pain-in-the-a$$ is directly proportional to the reduction in head count.

Why the Regus office though?
Convenience. No furniture costs. No IT costs. No phone systems. No internet contracts. No receptionist costs. 24-7 office access. Decent facilities for larger scale meetings. Professional services. Hard core equipment on a pay to play basis. Shipment destination cross dock/storage. Transferrable anywhere in the world. We just literally unplugged one in Minnesota and moved it to Florida. Business centers across the country in every major metro area, enabling you to "work" anywhere with no strings attached. And, free coffee. I have had my own office suites before (several) and every time I want to do something different, I have to liquidate conference tables, cubicle walls, and people. No mess. No hassle. No long term strings. Essentially... virtual.

 

[DrkSide]

Thanks Vig for taking us along for your journey. Best of luck to you and the family at the new location!

 

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[GuestUser140]

The reduction in pain-in-the-a$$ is directly proportional to the reduction in head count.

I hear that over and over from people who've been there, done that. Food for thought.

I'm thinking (aloud) of:
a part time assistant to handle day to day customer emails / escalations / anything non-financial
I do sourcing, marketing, growth.
All the other heavy repetitive lifting handled by big, stable third parties (couriers/fulfilment centres).

That would shed 3 hours of fat off each day + divorce me from my location.

Anyway, keep reminding us how great life can be and best of luck!

 

[Andy Black]

The reduction in pain-in-the-a$$ is directly proportional to the reduction in head count.

I hear that over and over from people who've been there, done that. Food for thought.

Agreed, thanks for the heads up @Vigilante

 

[Vigilante]

I hear that over and over from people who've been there, done that. Food for thought.

I'm thinking (aloud) of:
a part time assistant to handle day to day customer emails / escalations / anything non-financial
I do sourcing, marketing, growth.
All the other heavy repetitive lifting handled by big, stable third parties (couriers/fulfilment centres).

That would shed 3 hours of fat off each day + divorce me from my location.

Anyway, keep reminding us how great life can be and best of luck!

That's pretty close to the model. And, keep in mind that personal assistants tend to be way better, way more loyal, and way more trustworthy than the average run of the mill employee. Pay them well, and give them extremely high schedule flexibility. As long as they are connected, their location is flexible also. Helps if they can write blogs, handle social media, and basically keep everything running.

By the way, you realize even with that person, it is only a matter of time when they start to question why they don't make more (once it settles in what the business makes.) And, I tell every single one of them... when they get to that point (not IF) that is their time to leave and go do their own thing. Every single employee, without exception, reaches the point where they start to think their contributions exceed their pay... especially when you are living the remote life and following the commandment of TIME.

 

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[LibertyForMe]

The reduction in pain-in-the-a$$ is directly proportional to the reduction in head count.

I talked to the founder of the company that I work for now, we do about 30MM annually, and he told me that this was the one thing about business that he did not expect when he started; the headaches that come from dealing with employees and people. Vig knows what he is talking about, and I am really trying to let this lesson sink in now before I have a super successful business, that way I can grow it in a smart way and not just hire people for the sake of it!

Thanks Vig.

 

[Gsuz]

Amazing thread! This is definitely something I'm struggling with. When I started out, I was looking at offshore locations and countries with lower taxes before I was making any real money. Now that I'm in a better place financially and location independent, I'm too comfortable to even move to another location. Also it would probably help, if just due to exposal to a new culture, but Germany has spoiled me.

 

[ddzc]

I f'n love this thread! Awesome vig

Welcome back @SteveO

I'll give you my honest opinion about my situation. I kind of did the opposite and I did it for various reasons. I moved away from my home and beautiful city to a shithole city in New Brunswick bc I wasn't working efficiently and had to put myself in to a very uncomfortable situation in order to shift my a$$ in to gear. For the past 9 months, I left everything behind, family, friends, condos, car, parties, social life, etc, I packed my suitcases and I've been consulting for a company out East. On the side I've been laser focused on my business without interruptions or distractions, every night and weekend! I have progressed immensely ever since.

Once my business is operating as it should, THIS is the direction I want to follow, exactly what this thread is all about. I'm just making a little detour on the way

 

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[ryanbleau]

You.

Live.

Where other people

vacation.

Life is too short to say you'll do it when you retire. Why wait till you're 65 and cant enjoy it.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

the headaches that come from dealing with employees and people.

I didn't have many employees (5 at most) but it was one of the elements I least enjoyed of entrepreneurship. In the end, the decision to sell, versus grow, expand (and hence add employees) came down to knowing that adding more people would have added more of what I didn't enjoy. Glad I made that decision not too. Having been a solopreneur now for some years now, I don't think I ever would want to start something that would require a substantial workforce for execution.

 

[MTF]

I love this thread.

@Vigilante, @MJ DeMarco - just for clarification: do you mean "traditional" employees sitting in an office or virtual ones too? For instance, do you consider a personal assistant an employee or a contractor?

I know what a pain in the a$$ having an office with employees is, but when I hire virtual employees it feels different (they seem to be much more entrepreneurial than your typical desk jockey).

 

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[GuestUser140]

Every single employee, without exception, reaches the point where they start to think their contributions exceed their pay... especially when you are living the remote life and following the commandment of TIME.

Solid info.

I might not even tell them I'm a thousand miles away. Give the impression I'm in the general area, out and about meeting people / doing stuff to grow the business, and "might drop in later today or this week if I find the time". Effectively, I'd still be at my business once a week, then once a month etc.

Now figuring out what a fulfilment centre does. I sell used products so ideally items have to be graded and tested. Looking into this.

 

[Andy Black]

I didn't have many employees (5 at most) but it was one of the elements I least enjoyed of entrepreneurship. In the end, the decision to sell, versus grow, expand (and hence add employees) came down to knowing that adding more people would have added more of what I didn't enjoy. Glad I made that decision not too. Having been a solopreneur now for some years now, I don't think I ever would want to start something that would require a substantial workforce for execution.

Thanks for sharing this MJ. Rep+

It reminds me of Vig's post where he shows an office that he thankfully didn't rent.

We shouldn't judge the success of our business by the size of our office or the number of employees.

Having an office or having a headcount isn't an end-goal, just potential stepping stones towards our end-goals.

Thanks for the reminder.