This one is kind of long....grab some coffee!
As January 2014 began and the holidays were wrapped up, I sat down and started working on a business plan for my photography business and Bossman's tattoo business (Bossman's Needle - have you liked his page yet?) I was working on specials to get lined up, accounting system set up, blogs updated, etc. I included a revamp of this blog (it turned into just recipes and I have a little bit more on my mind than that!) that I was excited to get started on.
However, on the morning of January 14th, we received a phone call that not only shocked and saddened us, but left us unsure of quite a few things. Our former business partner and very close friend, somehow, someway made the decision to end his life that day. My cousin posted on Facebook this past week that we are never more than a phone call away from being on our knees. How so very true that statement is! And, I want to say right here, right now, that no matter how big the problem is, suicide is never ever the answer. Never. (please seek help!)
In the mix of shock, sadness and just downright disbelief, there were creeping thoughts of "what now?" We had not been in business with Rick for almost a year, but there were aspects of the business that we had to attend to. One of those was the Budget Rental business. He already had rental trucks when we came on board several years ago, but had added rental cars under me which was "my baby".
Avis Budget Group approached me about taking the rental car and truck business back over. So, this is where I say that my lifelong aspiration was never to own a rental vehicle business; however, it was a great opportunity! Let's say that I was a little wishy-washy on the subject. We had all of these plans of things we *want* to do, but who, in their right mind, passes up an opportunity that was handed to you on a silver platter?! They offered me a deal I couldn't pass up, so I went through the whole process of applying to own a rental business and was approved. It would be long hours (Monday through Friday 7:30 am - 6:00 pm and Saturday 9:00 am till noon. But, the work wasn't all consuming - I would have time to blog and do my group home work from my office there. I was even going to set up a photography studio in the building at some point.
We were crunched for time trying to get our end of the business set up, training scheduled (they were paying me for "retraining") and personal obligations we had committed to. Suddenly, our time was very valuable and we had to do some scheduling magic to get it all in. We were shooting for an opening date of April 1st.
Back to being wishy-washy. Like I said, I had plans and before January 14th, no desire to own a rental vehicle business. So, what do you do? Being raised the way I was, I know that the shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. So, that's where I went and that's where I left it: at God's feet. When I was approved and negotiations went well, I thought that was God saying this is what you should be doing....
This past week found us incredibly busy. The two year group home inspection (from the state of Missouri) was this past Monday. For those that don't know, I am the Qualified Developmental Disabilities Professional - otherwise known as "The Q" - at a local group home. On Monday morning, I was up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:30 to help handle the inspection. It's a big deal and we passed with flying colors and were "absolutely amazing". We were up at 5:30 Tuesday morning to take a friend to Springfield for surgery and stayed with him until released on Wednesday afternoon. We took him to his house and stayed there Wednesday night just to keep an eye on him and help him out. Bossman developed a severe toothache during all of this. He ended up having oral surgery Thursday morning - 3 hours in the dentist office and follow up care hadn't been figured in my "schedule" LOL.
Late Thursday afternoon, I got a phone call from my rental vehicle TPM (Territory Performance Manager - also my point of contact). He was calling to tell me the building where we were going to put the rental business had been sold! At first, I was disappointed and scrambling my mind to come up with another location. However, after discussing with Bossman and calming down a little bit, I was surprised to find that we were RELIEVED! What?!
Apparently, we were not looking forward to the long hours, early mornings and being "locked down" and having to be there, regardless of how busy we were on any given day. It was like a giant weight had been lifted off our shoulders...we could carry on with our original plans.
Remember I put this at God's feet and just left it there, so why was I approved, through this huge corporate application process, for no reason? Sometimes we don't know the answers, we just know the outcome. BUT, I think that God was showing us what we truly had in our hearts and how valuable our time is. We, admittedly, got very lazy over the long cold winter. Like, seriously lazy. If we had put the time and effort into the tattoo and photography business that we had put in getting the rental business off the ground and juggling our prior commitments, we would be rockstars by now!
SO, after all the above post.......LET'S DO THIS! I'm going to start with an April special for my photography business. You can find it here on my photography website. I have updated my "Investment" page, too. So, check it out. Don't forget to "Like" my Facebook page as well.
This blog will be getting some additional content, so keep an eye on it. Watch for a post later this week about Z Loft Bar and Grill (lunch date and photo session scheduled later this week!).
And, Bossman's Needle will be offering April specials, too, so keep up with our Facebook page!
As January 2014 began and the holidays were wrapped up, I sat down and started working on a business plan for my photography business and Bossman's tattoo business (Bossman's Needle - have you liked his page yet?) I was working on specials to get lined up, accounting system set up, blogs updated, etc. I included a revamp of this blog (it turned into just recipes and I have a little bit more on my mind than that!) that I was excited to get started on.
However, on the morning of January 14th, we received a phone call that not only shocked and saddened us, but left us unsure of quite a few things. Our former business partner and very close friend, somehow, someway made the decision to end his life that day. My cousin posted on Facebook this past week that we are never more than a phone call away from being on our knees. How so very true that statement is! And, I want to say right here, right now, that no matter how big the problem is, suicide is never ever the answer. Never. (please seek help!)
In the mix of shock, sadness and just downright disbelief, there were creeping thoughts of "what now?" We had not been in business with Rick for almost a year, but there were aspects of the business that we had to attend to. One of those was the Budget Rental business. He already had rental trucks when we came on board several years ago, but had added rental cars under me which was "my baby".
Avis Budget Group approached me about taking the rental car and truck business back over. So, this is where I say that my lifelong aspiration was never to own a rental vehicle business; however, it was a great opportunity! Let's say that I was a little wishy-washy on the subject. We had all of these plans of things we *want* to do, but who, in their right mind, passes up an opportunity that was handed to you on a silver platter?! They offered me a deal I couldn't pass up, so I went through the whole process of applying to own a rental business and was approved. It would be long hours (Monday through Friday 7:30 am - 6:00 pm and Saturday 9:00 am till noon. But, the work wasn't all consuming - I would have time to blog and do my group home work from my office there. I was even going to set up a photography studio in the building at some point.
We were crunched for time trying to get our end of the business set up, training scheduled (they were paying me for "retraining") and personal obligations we had committed to. Suddenly, our time was very valuable and we had to do some scheduling magic to get it all in. We were shooting for an opening date of April 1st.
Back to being wishy-washy. Like I said, I had plans and before January 14th, no desire to own a rental vehicle business. So, what do you do? Being raised the way I was, I know that the shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. So, that's where I went and that's where I left it: at God's feet. When I was approved and negotiations went well, I thought that was God saying this is what you should be doing....
This past week found us incredibly busy. The two year group home inspection (from the state of Missouri) was this past Monday. For those that don't know, I am the Qualified Developmental Disabilities Professional - otherwise known as "The Q" - at a local group home. On Monday morning, I was up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:30 to help handle the inspection. It's a big deal and we passed with flying colors and were "absolutely amazing". We were up at 5:30 Tuesday morning to take a friend to Springfield for surgery and stayed with him until released on Wednesday afternoon. We took him to his house and stayed there Wednesday night just to keep an eye on him and help him out. Bossman developed a severe toothache during all of this. He ended up having oral surgery Thursday morning - 3 hours in the dentist office and follow up care hadn't been figured in my "schedule" LOL.
Late Thursday afternoon, I got a phone call from my rental vehicle TPM (Territory Performance Manager - also my point of contact). He was calling to tell me the building where we were going to put the rental business had been sold! At first, I was disappointed and scrambling my mind to come up with another location. However, after discussing with Bossman and calming down a little bit, I was surprised to find that we were RELIEVED! What?!
Apparently, we were not looking forward to the long hours, early mornings and being "locked down" and having to be there, regardless of how busy we were on any given day. It was like a giant weight had been lifted off our shoulders...we could carry on with our original plans.
Remember I put this at God's feet and just left it there, so why was I approved, through this huge corporate application process, for no reason? Sometimes we don't know the answers, we just know the outcome. BUT, I think that God was showing us what we truly had in our hearts and how valuable our time is. We, admittedly, got very lazy over the long cold winter. Like, seriously lazy. If we had put the time and effort into the tattoo and photography business that we had put in getting the rental business off the ground and juggling our prior commitments, we would be rockstars by now!
SO, after all the above post.......LET'S DO THIS! I'm going to start with an April special for my photography business. You can find it here on my photography website. I have updated my "Investment" page, too. So, check it out. Don't forget to "Like" my Facebook page as well.
This blog will be getting some additional content, so keep an eye on it. Watch for a post later this week about Z Loft Bar and Grill (lunch date and photo session scheduled later this week!).
And, Bossman's Needle will be offering April specials, too, so keep up with our Facebook page!
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