Benw523
New Contributor
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Value/Post Ratio
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- May 27, 2013
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Hey guys my name is Ben and I have been running businesses for the past 4 years. I am an entrepreneur like many of you here and want to be on the fastlane when I am young. I am starting to discover that the business I am in is not fastlane and I am starting to dislike it and losing my passion for it. I am at a crossroad now and hoping to find some useful insights and advices about my current situation. Long story short, I started a restaurant/lounge business and a fast food business about 2 1/2 years ago with my cousin with the help of a loan from my parents. The restaurant lounge business was a mild success but sold after a year of operation for a small profit due to partnership split with my cousin and his wife. I found out the hard way about partnership business as ego, politic, and worst of all having a couple in the business do get in the way of a successful operation, moreover the business was sold to another party for a high 5 figure profit. The fast food place was a money losing operation for a year and my cousin wanted out and I bought him out with another partner for cheap. We invested more money into the operation to make it more efficient and is now turning a small profit between 2-4 k each month.
For the last few months I have been searching for locations to expand and now I have found an okay location as real estate is a big challenge for small business like us. Prime locations are usually taken or are only available for big chain restaurants as they are seen as risk free tenants. Now I am asking myself do I want to a plunge into another location and it can be another year or 2 before it turns a profit. I feel the business is not fastlane and I will never reach the goals I want to achieve through this business. I am starting to think of other options but I feel I lacked the experience and skills to transition into another field. I feel the last 4 years most of what I learned was operational like managing people, leading people in my business, or increasing operation efficiency. I don't think I can utilize these skills because very likely I will start from the bottom in another field.
I face 2 options now, either option 1 continue with my business to make an okay living and give up on my fastlane dream. Option 2 pursue another field and face all the uncertainties, even worst maybe waste couple years and still be in the same position I am now. I am also short on capital because I repaid my loan and blew my profit on stupid stuffs due to my false sense of success earlier. I feel I have been distracted with my personal issues and didn't give everything to my business. I have learned the hard way and I have reflected deeply on why I didn't succeed earlier. I am hungry for success now and I am willing to give my time and sweat for it, but now I need some help and a direction.
For the last few months I have been searching for locations to expand and now I have found an okay location as real estate is a big challenge for small business like us. Prime locations are usually taken or are only available for big chain restaurants as they are seen as risk free tenants. Now I am asking myself do I want to a plunge into another location and it can be another year or 2 before it turns a profit. I feel the business is not fastlane and I will never reach the goals I want to achieve through this business. I am starting to think of other options but I feel I lacked the experience and skills to transition into another field. I feel the last 4 years most of what I learned was operational like managing people, leading people in my business, or increasing operation efficiency. I don't think I can utilize these skills because very likely I will start from the bottom in another field.
I face 2 options now, either option 1 continue with my business to make an okay living and give up on my fastlane dream. Option 2 pursue another field and face all the uncertainties, even worst maybe waste couple years and still be in the same position I am now. I am also short on capital because I repaid my loan and blew my profit on stupid stuffs due to my false sense of success earlier. I feel I have been distracted with my personal issues and didn't give everything to my business. I have learned the hard way and I have reflected deeply on why I didn't succeed earlier. I am hungry for success now and I am willing to give my time and sweat for it, but now I need some help and a direction.
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