Thread: Stuck, between a rock and a hard place

I had a non-compete clause with a past employer. I left and went to work for a competitor. The company I left never came after me. Either because they knew the contract wouldn't hold water, or I wasn't that valuable after all. Hopefully the former, not the latter.

the guy i used to work for was a crook and took advantage of everyone. he was a real class act douche leaving there to start my own business was very hard yes, but the best thing i could of done. i never looked back since! no regrets!

Originally Posted by HPP

Both sides of the fence have their pros and cons. One side isn't better or worse, but I'd have to say from experience, doing your own thing comes with a lot more work, more stress and not necessarily more money. The advantage is freedom and the ability to choose your own path. I'm sitting on the other side from you and sometimes a good paycheck/steady hours/benefits looks very compelling.

I will never tell anyone to not jump out of the regular job world and into the business world, but I'd suggest being as informed as possible before you did so.

Well put. After 16.5 years of running my own business that I opened at 20 I can honestly say that a straight 9-5 looks pretty good some days. Owning and running your own business can be a real grind.

And I'm going to go out on a limb here to give you a reality check of self employment. Sure there is a whole lifestyle that seems glamorous when compared to the 9-5 daily grind but "with great power comes great responsibility."

I've always been pretty open about how I ended up with my own company. I've never claimed to be a baller. I may build and service quarter million dollar cars but that doesn't mean i'm rolling in the dough. I started Revved in the hole purely on reputation after getting screwed working at UP, wiping out my savings, living on unemployment, feeding my family on WIC, and busting my a$$ trying to get this business going. With 15 years in the auto business at that time, ASE Master, Ford Senior Master, and tons of experience I couldn't find a job in the custom world, let alone the local market with Unique Performance on my resume no matter how good I was- no one would even talk to me- not even dealerships were calling back.

For the last 2+ years I've struggled to get things launched doing what I need to do to balancing taking care of the family, working production hours to pay the bills, doing grass roots marketing, networking, taking care of customers, etc... everything that goes along with it. And overall its gone very well; I have more work than I can reasonalby get done and people knocking on my door wanting to give me more. I just can't seem to get things in line to grow the business to handle the workload. I am stuck in a "go big or go home situation" that requires much more funding than I have to overcome. I will never complain about where I am in life because I know it could always be worse and I am "living my dream."

The side I don't talk about is the toll it has taken on my family. My family is healthy, we have food, we have a house to live in, and my wife hasn't left me yet. We pay nearly $700 a month for crappy health coverage which amounts to major medical. I have a 5 year old son in Kindergarden that is doing 2nd grade work and really needs to be going to a Montessouri or advanced learning school and a 3 year old that will be right behind him needing to be put on that path to success early on. A teenager that is a state recognized musician and is shopping colleges that will costs us $15-$20k a year even after the full scholarships she will most likely earn and no idea how we are going to pay for it. We bought our house under market as a distress sale that needed a lot of TLC. The newest car we own is a 2003 Excursion that I bought for the business. Since the teenager is starting to drive I bought the wife a low mileage 2001 Lincoln LS that I'm dressing up since we really don't need a car payment right now. Imagine those conversations with your wife year after year. "Don't worry babe... things will come through."

I didn't come from a family that put value on higher education or entreprenurship but I'll be damned if my kids are not going to be raised to be independant and successful from an early age. It took my Dad over a year to stop asking me "how's the job search going?" "Dad, I've started my own company- I'm not looking for a job." "Ok but have you found a job yet?" I am willing to struggle through my life to give my kids a headstart on theirs so they never have to make some of the decisions I have.

Even a bed of roses has its thorns and I could never go back to the life of punching someone elses clock.

This struggle gives me a different perspective on this whole scenario. Honestly, I get pissed off when I see someone handed a business and they are squandering money on stupid things because they haven't had to work for it. Or someone who is an idiot that has been handed a pile of money to start a business because they have a "friend" or an "uncle" that had some money to play with and they are clueless on what they are doing or how to run it. I look at what my family has been through trying to get this business going and what I have accomplished with nothing. Wonder why I know so much about writing business plans and business theory? I've spent the last 5-6 years studying , taking classes, writing and re-writing business plans, and talking to everyone I know whos been there, debating, and taking it all in. I joke with people that I've worked for enough people that did it wrong that I've learned what not to do. This industry is very fickle and I know that in this business If I screw this up I may not get a second chance. I take the responsibility of this business very seriously- it is how I feed my family. If I don't- there isn't anyone else who will.


Yeah I know its TMI and this is L4P we are all supposed to be high rollers and no one has skeletons in their closet right? I don't- I clean em out and kick em to the curb. Depression and self pity aren't in my dictionary. At the end of my life I won't be puttering over the finish line... I will be sliding sideways, tires screaming, with the engine on fire.