Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

[Vigilante]

I think it is the "wanting more" that eventually leads great employees into becoming entrepreneurs. You get paid to learn, on someone else's payroll. In exchange, you give them your labor and they make money off of your work. Eventually, this value exchange becomes less and less attractive to you, until finally you are wanting to go out on your own, and do it for yourself and your family and your legacy. You don't want to work for someone else for the rest of your life. And... another entrepreneur is born.

 

[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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[AllenCrawley]

The challenge. The newness. Exploring. The weather. The beach. The economy. The breaking of monotony. Living what you preach. Freedom. Lifestyle. Health. Excitement. Unknown. Stretching. Becoming.

Man, am I excited for you and the family! I can't wait to see how this affects your daily productivity and growth of the business. I'd bet it will be huge!

 

[Vigilante]

We talked about it for too long. We let too many sunsets slip past.

 

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[Vigilante]

Think about it.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

The long road ride down to your new home will be very therapeutic. It's just you and the road, and your own thoughts about the start of a new chapter. It almost makes me want to move again, except, I still love it here. Safe travels my friend.

 

[jon.a]

A good tenant is priceless. A bad tenant can be hell.

So, we leased a house. As usual, we broke most of the rules to do so.

1. We wanted a move in date that was later than the homeowner wanted
2. They asked for financials on us, we passed
3. They asked for tax returns, we passed
4. We did give them credit report access. That's about it.

A funny thing happens when you change the leverage in a negotiation. They wanted to lease us the house more than we wanted the house. There are 1,000 houses we could lease, but there's only one leasee that looks like us. Leverage.

We gave them mostly what they wanted. Most of their concerns center around money (as they should). So, we didn't fight them on money. We demanded the terms we wanted, and refused to play the game most people play regarding their absurd demands.

In the end, they get what they want (money) and we get what we want (a crash pad.) Nothing else really matters in this transaction.

If you can get to the HEART of what your opponent wants in a negotiation, and give them that or something close to that... everything else is just semantics.

We'll sign the lease tonight, and fly back to Minnesota tomorrow.

 

[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]

Last minute plans changing fluidly.

1. Decided it wouldn't be fun to tow multiple vehicles, so we are leaving one here and transporting a second one with a commercial transport carrier vs. towing it

2. Now, we'll have one large moving van, and my F350 as a scout vehicle. Gas estimates are still roughly the same. We'll do the drive averaging 3 9-hour says of 600 miles per day.

3. Setting up utilities is a pain in the a$$. They all want to run a credit check. I am having none of them run a credit check. I have good credit, but don't want several hard inquiries on my credit report as those last for 2 years and can have a derogatory affect on your credit score. So, I am paying deposits to all of these clowns vs. having them ruin my credit score over utilities.

4. Last minute packing

5. I hired a team of veterans to come over and help us load the moving van. I specifically requested they send me young workers. Hopefully they are not WWII veterans.

6. Minnesota weather is humid. Florida weather is humid. Florida has no snow in the winter, so Florida wins.

7. The new location has Verizon Fios. Anyone on that? Supposedly it is blazing fast internet.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Dave, you succeeded in the harshest of conditions. I couldn't. I wonder what kinds of wonders the move will do for you and your family. I'd imagine being able to hit the ocean at moment's whim has got to be incredibly motivating to enhance what you've already done.

 

[Vigilante]

I had a nice boat on Lake Minnetonka. One year I decided to save a couple hundred bucks and winterize it myself. Apparently you need to get all of the water out of the block.

 

[Andy Black]

@Vigilante

Your offhand comments are gold nuggets that will save many of us years of frustration.

Thank you.

 

[GuestUser113]

The whole talk is awesome. But, to reiterate what you are saying. Start it @ 7:30
Kamal Ravikant

 

[Iwokeup]

Our ability to pack up and leave started with the business structure. From the beginning, we integrated MJ's commandment of TIME (separating your time from your income) so that we weren't required to be present for the business to operate. There are currently a couple of fast lane forum members snorkeling the great barrier reef in Australia while their business assets continue generating income. That is the ultimate exercise of the commandment of time. It's what enables me to sit in Maui for long stretches of time, and what enables us to pack up and move... where ever.

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.

In addition, we're currently using RingCentral for our phone system. It's a virtual phone system, which sounds and feels like a big company phone system. It will follow us where ever we go, whether I am working from an office in Minneapolis, or a boat in the Florida keys. So, from a perception standpoint, we're set with Ring Central. When I decide to, we simply disconnect the Minneapolis phone numbers, and build new ones with Florida prefixes. Half hour to switch everything over, and we're in business with Florida phone numbers.

So, the office tether is cut, the warehouse space is minimal (and I have one person staying back in Minneapolis that can run the minimal operations left here) and the phone system is virtual, as is the office.

Separated from time, separated from location.

This post alone is worth real money. Thank you!

 

[ZCP]

@Vigilante hit me up on your way through ATL and I'll buy you a nice meal! Proud of you!

 

[Vigilante]

 

[CommonCents]

Enjoy your adventure! I am tired of MN as well(high of 45 and low of 36 on Monday!) , screwing around with 3 boats and a jetski, in and out of storage, maintenance etc.. for 90 days of summer getting to be a drag. yeah 1st world problems. Keeping a home on Prior Lake for family/business for now.lightening the load selling a Lake Minnetonka property I was going to build a dream home on, and now looking around for an oceanside home either domestic or international. I'll either move the manufacturing operation or sell it (a multi million$$ customer wants it to be vertically integrated) and retain certain branded & private label marketing/sales product lines contracting w/ the buyer, in order to be more virtual/mobile.

Best wishes to you for making the move!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

It'd be cheaper and easier to rent a snowmobile for $200 a day for the 2-3 days you can ride.

Another prime motivator to get out of IL was something similar for me. I've always loved convertibles and it just seemed impractical to own one in the Midwest. Between the winters and the humid summers, it just seemed like it's total use would have been a few days out of the year. The first time I sold my first biz, my first purchase was a convertible. The top was perpetually down.

I think the boating clubs that sell rental memberships

They have a few around here around the AZ lakes. Here's one:

http://www.bartlettlake.com/boat-rentals.html

They even have boat club memberships.

http://www.blmboatclub.com/club.html

Definitely the way I'd go.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Something has to change soon.

Not really... nothing changes unless we do.

 

[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]

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]

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.

 

[GuestUser140]

my F350

his Mustang GT

300 gallons of gas

Oh, America

 

[Vigilante]

We picked some new phone numbers today. After the area code, we went with the numbers of 777.


(XXX)777-XXXX

 

[SteveO]

What if the walls you perceive to be in front of you are artificial? What if they were constructed by you, or by someone intending to keep you chained?

!!!

When I quit my great job of 19 years at HP, so many people were advising me not to do it. Why would I leave a job that has done so much for me and other people? I had security and peace of mind.

That was 15 years ago. I have felt free every since...

 

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[Vigilante]

We started with the concept of bringing very little, and just buying it here. However, it was a lot more economical in the end to bring stuff, and the crazy part is we have so much **crap** that my house in Minnesota is still relatively furnished.

My wife gets here Tuesday, and then I will get to rearrange the whole place again.

There are only three ways to do this :
1. Bring nothing and buy everything locally. That's a good option if you can buy used, cheap stuff.

2. Use a moving company.

3. Do what we did, which is do it yourself.

I left most of my big stuff in Minnesota, so we bought a lot of stuff here locally. There's a cool store here called "Rooms To Go" where you can just basically go in and buy a whole room at a time.

Pulling the trailer was a nightmare, making the whole rig way too long. If it was just the moving truck without the trailer, it would have been fine.

 

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[Jamie T]

Congrats on the move!

I packed up and moved to the Gulf Coast last September. Coming from upstate NY (it snowed 119.1 inches this past winter) was a major change in lifestyle.

You and your family will love it down here.

 

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[Vigilante]

I was talking with my son the other day, specifically about snowmobiles. We have a snowmobile sitting at my place that hasn't been used for several years. We came to the realization that in the south... there has NEVER been a year where you couldn't use a jet ski. That's a novel concept. In Minnesota, I have a few cars we have to store for 6 months during the winter.

It's common here to hear people say "we;;, you can't beat Minnesota in the summer." Apparently those people have never been to Scottsdale in February. Or March. Or April.

 

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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!

 

[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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