Can your phyiscal location hold you back?

[Get Right]

Hey Guys - I am wrestling with a topic, looking for some new insight. The question is "Does where you live change your probability for success in the Fastlane"? Background - I live in a beautiful part of the sunny Florida panhandle. You can't get much better than this area with one exception....there are virtually no successful practicing entrepreneurs that live here. Our area is one of the poorest in the nation and innovation runs from here as soon as they get a "ticket" to another city/area. While the businesses that I own do not derive their income from this area, I think location may hold my companies back. I have this idea that being surrounded by more like-minded individuals would dramatically improve my probability for fastlane success...but am unsure about the idea. Without forums like this and the outside consultants I hire, I really don't have any interaction with people looking to succeed on fastlane levels. Your thoughts?

 

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[kyled427]

Not since the beautiful thing known as the internet.

 

[H. Palmer]

How many entrepreneurial success stories do you know from an area like Greenland?

 

[dknise]

Physical location can hold you back if that's the excuse you use for not choosing to execute or take action.

 

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[Sir Ingenious]

Then just move, bro.

We all need the right platform to execute, the right kind of career, the right kind of life to be happy, the right location, having the right husband or wife, etc. If you realize that your current platform isn't right for you then change up. It's all about mustering that courage to take that first step out that door.

 

[Milkanic]

It holds you back about as much as you let it hold you back.

 

[marc100]

GetRight, I'm from Fort Lauderdale Florida and I know *exactly* how you feel.
For me I felt the people in South Florida were slower paced and I felt that living in a beach non-business community held me back, so 2 months ago I moved to Santa Clara, CA. Silicon Valley with a startup.

Its only been 2 months but so far it's been very good emotionally but bad financially.

The good:
1. The people here speak business. I network with people and make friends who are very smart, way smarter than me and understand *exactly* what I'm doing. In Florida I would talk business with friends who didn't care, they just want to go to the beach and get to Happy Hour. They had no drive. I always felt alone.
When you move to a big city its filled with motivated people who are all "Chasing after the golden ring".
I pay to go to a workspace and I see people who work at Google, Facebook, Apple all the time. It does make you feel good to hang with a crowd like this.

2. Being around smart hardworking people has really given me a second wind and pushed me to work harder. Everyday I start working late morning and stop around midnight.
Having a high rent to pay and expenses has lit a fire under my butt to work harder and I've gotten a lot done, its been good inspiration.

3. Lots of great seminars to learn new things in a business city. There's always something happening to go to if you want.

The bad:
1. Money! It is SO expensive to live here. A decent 1 bedroom apartment is like $1,500 in the lower part of Silicon Valley, and its super boring here. When work is over theres nothing to do but walk in the park. Everything here closes around 9-10pm.

And if you want to go in/near San Francisco for more nightlife then its $1,900 for a studio, $2,400/mo for a small 1 bedroom. No parking, no storage.
Prices on Craigslist look lower, but when you arrive you realize the cheaper things are in bad neighborhoods you wouldnt want to live in. And when you come you see there are literally 12 other people looking at the same apartment at the same time as you, so you have to make a great bid to get it. Also the cheaper apartments in cities are crammed together making them cheaper, but you can hear *everything*. I could hear my neighbor snoring, and the other neighbor blowing her nose and hitting the toilet paper roll. It was awful.

2. More Money! in Florida there is no state tax and that is *huge* for me. That saved me a lot of money and headaches from having to file it.
Here in California the taxes are very high.
Also getting an LLC here is very expensive, insurance costs, car & transportation costs.
So with the added costs I pretty much doubled my business costs in exchange for being around hard working smart people who can inspire me. Is it worth it? I dont know yet.

3. Money starts running out! You see the success stories about Silicon Valley but you dont see the people who failed or struggling. I see it often. I've seen a few people living in their cars, or parked a mobile home and secretly living in co-working spaces. Because Im there until very late I see it. Its kind of gross to go to the bathroom and see a "professional" shaving and washing his body in the sink of a professional work space you pay to go to. And sleeping there.
If you look at the parking lot of the work spaces you dont see Bentley's, Rolls, Mercedes, you see 10 year old Toyota corollas, civics, chevys, old beatup cars.
In Florida I saw Bentleys all the time.

I feel like I'm in LA with struggling actors, or in NY with struggling musicians. The news shows you the successes but not the failures, who are way way more.

4. Sometimes you meet people who are big talkers but accomplished nothing. Or they had 1 success 10 years ago and they're still living off it and they can give bad advice. I've met a few and thank god I didnt lose my money investing on their new business ideas, but you can get caught up in it.

5. The crowds, the traffic and waiting in very very long lines for everything. In Florida at the supermarket if there were 3 people ahead of me that would be annoying. Here you can find 8 people ahead of you in line and its no big deal, you get used to being in line for 15 minutes. Standing up on the train for an hour because theres no seats, its not fun.

To be honest I wish I could turn back the clock 3 months, cancel my ticket never come here. Just cancel everything.

If I had to do it over again I would either:
1. Use the money I saved living in Florida and really get cranking while I was there and worked harder to network. And not felt I had to move to where "The big boys play" in order to get moving faster.
With the money I saved I could have rented a bigger place in FL and hired someone to help me cheaper, instead of giving it to more taxes.
or
2. Moved to a smaller-big city like Phoenix, Denver, SLC, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Tampa, Atlanta, Austin and avoided the big elite cities like NYC or SF. I already know Im not staying in CA because its ridiculously expensive and I'll never be able to buy property here. Whereas in Florida I lived a lot nicer with a lot less stress.

But if you can easily afford to pay the prices, then I say go for it. It really does make a difference mentally to be around people who speed you up vs people who slow you down.

hth

 

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[Vigilante]

move

you are a free agent

no excuses

 

[Get Right]

Wow what a post marc100, thank you for your time. This is a great discussion with good points on both sides. Do you think our analysis is based too much on the extremes. Extreme poverty here, extreme have/have not in Cal, etc. Would love to hear from some ATL, CLT, etc. people.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

For me, moving out of Chicago was the best decision of my life. It made my mind *right* -- without that shift, I'd be lurking on this forum instead of running it.

However, running a business on the internet, an app company, or a publishing business, is virtually location independent. I know I can move anywhere and still but up and running. Also, value is indiscriminate. If you have what I WANT, I don't care if you're in Cedar Rapids of Silicon Valley.

 

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[leighstjohn]

I agree wholeheartedly with MJ - my two moves (first from Australia to the States and second from Vegas to the East Coast) were essential for my 'soul'...

Yes, you can achieve when you live in a dark, dungeon being fed only crackers and the occasional piece of cheese, however I would suggest the 'quality' of what you achieve would be markedly enhanced if you were to live where you find inspiration, light and love pretty much everywhere you look...

When I first moved to the US, I had no intention of moving to the middle of the desert - I've since decided that it was God's warped sense of humor teaching me a lesson for not being more specific than 'wanting to live in the States'... LOL!

I moved from living right on the water (friend's 65' yacht at my doorstep) to the middle of the Mohave desert... and as grateful as I am for the wonderful opportunities that I have had, Vegas was never where my 'soul' was replenished... I escaped to Oceanview CA every chance I had... and now am residing (supposedly temporarily but we will see how long temporary lasts... LOL!) on the East Coast... and I love it!!!

I'm ever so much more productive and my clients are getting the very best from me - because I'm getting the very best from me being here...

I hope that helps...

Looking forward to hearing your progress...

Kind regards and God bless...

Leigh

 

[SBS.95]

In an extreme scenario where your physical location puts you in real danger, then I could see it being a setback. For instance, I don't care if I had the entrepreneurial talents of some of the top members of this forum- I still wouldn't want to operate out of Argentina in the early 2000s.

But if you're in any country that gives you a solid level of economic freedom, then no, it seems like you might just be making excuses.

If you live in a poor area and the standard car is a 90s Civic, it should serve as an incentive to be above the standard.
If you live in a rich area and the standard car is a Porsche Boxster, it should serve as an incentive to become that.

(I neither live in a rich area or have a Boxster, but it seemed like a good plug for one of my favorite sports cars. )

 

[andyredsox]

It really depends on your will to REALLY succeed.

What is your own definition of success anyway?

If being in that city hinder your definition of success, by all means relocate.

It's good to be w/ success minded people but you need to define your own story of success and make it happen.

 

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[masaldana2]

My dad was kidnapped and his small business were robbed all the time.

so yeah it can hold you back...

 

[1PercentStreet]

Move.

I just moved last month. Best decision I've ever made.

 

[wealthyliving]

If you really believe it is holding you back, then most likely it is. But what are YOU going to do about it? Are you going to pick up your things and move? Are you going to make an effort and scour the universities for like-minded people? Are you going to participate in forums like these and surround yourself with like-minded people on the Internet?

It also depends on what kind of company or business you want to start.

 

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[SBS.95]

It also depends on what kind of company or business you want to start.

This. Although I would re-word it and say it depends on what kind of platform you want your business from.

If you are selling online, then your location is pretty much irrelevant. If you have a physical storefront, then selling skiing accessories in Florida will probably hold you back.

 

[leighstjohn]

I have this idea

Get Right - this is the most important... You have an idea that you may need to move...

Henry Ford's quote about whatever you think you think this thing or the opposite - you're right!

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ― Henry Ford

If you TRULY BELIEVE you need to move to succeed - you do.

If you TRULY BELIEVE you can succeed where you are - you can!

I hope that helps...

...and whatever you choose, commit to making that decision the best you've ever made.

Wishing you all the very best...

Leigh