Total Transparency-Lost Vendor Soul/Mojo

[antoniocinisi]

I see he is not active anymore either since its been since March he replied to a topic. I hope he did he's a pretty good guy.

[Rick]

He always had great posts and gave me some great advice.  He was gone for months, briefly returned and shared he was battling some personal demons and then disappeared again.  I think of him from time to time and hope he finds his happiness because he seemed like a good soul to me.  

[hanihotdog]

the other guys got pretty far off topic, back to your questions. I had a minute to read through your post. Here is some advice that I hope helps. probably not what you are looking for, but what I think you need to hear the most.

I would hope and assume that your new wife is the most important thing in your life. you are not a single dude anymore, all of your decisions need to be made with your wife and future children's needs in mind. ask yourself this question, am I really being fair to my wife? is 1500 per month the lifestyle that my wife signed up for when she married me? you're confident talk leads me to believe that this is not the lifestyle that u promised your wife and led her to believe when she agreed to marry you and potentially have your children? did you mislead your wife's parents when they agreed to allow their daughter to marry you! You should be talking to your wife about your family goals! If your family goal is to live off of 1500 dollars a month and work as little as possible, then you are doing a great job! Many people can live off of that and be very happy! Make no mistake, I am NOT judging you or your goals. on the flip side, your wife should have realistic expectations of you... nothing will come easy, there is a trade off. The more money you need to make, the more you need to work, the less you see your wife!

with regard to vocation vs. Advocation.. I struggled with that to. I'm 35 now, I graduated from college with honors, and the sky was indeed the limit. I chose to forego a desk job and start my own vending route! believe me.. I heard about it from my wife and my inlaws at first.. I only made 25000 per year for the first couple of years, & I worked 70 hours a week! My wife would rub it in that she made more money than me as a cpa.. and my in-laws would make comments like you're too smart to be servicing vending machines!

my wife and I worked through that, and I chose to ignore the "haters".. so far my hard work has financially been very rewarding, my wife can stay home and raise our children. I am NOT changing the world with my vending route, but that does not mean that I cannot make a difference in other people's lives. First and foremost my own, secondly employees, and finally all of the people that benefit from financial contributions that we are able to make to church, our community, and social welfare programs such as Hope International. hope that helps!

[hanihotdog]

Ok..  I just got home and had a chance to read your posts..  I will be "totally transparent with you."  It is clear to me that money is not what drives you, even though you talk about making money a few cents at a time in vending vs. by the thousands doing something else!!  I think your a dreamer and you probably struggle with commitment.  You can fantasize for 28 days per month about the things you could be doing instead of doing the things that you should be doing!!!  If money was driving you, then you would not be working 2 days per month, and satisfied in your "bootstrapped" income level.  Daydreams only lead to poverty.  Thomas Edison said this.. "A vision without execution is an hallucination"! 

 

You sound like a really good BS'er  and that's a great skill in this business! haha.  the problem is that you are BSing yourself!  in your 28 days per month that you are not working, your telling yourself... I could be doing this.. or look at all the money I can make if I do this...  all the while, you wasted another day of your life and have nothing to show for it!!!!  

 

I am sure that you have heard it said,  you can tell a good tree by the fruit that it yields!   The people that nag you and encourage you to go back to school are looking at the lack of fruit that your tree is bearing..  As a dreamer, don't get caught up in the big picture too much..  focus on iteration...  the act of completing small tasks, start to finish, one at a time..  For instance, I am going to fill this honor box today, and make 15 phone calls to organize/streamline my day tomorrow.  the result will be more fruit from your tree, and people will get off your case.

[havending]

Was it dogcow

Ya he had one but has not been on for awhile.

[ReillyNoFun]

I don't have as much vending experience as many of these guys but I do have experience with being a restless young entrepreneur and it sounds like that's kind of where you're at. Like you, my goal has always been to work for myself to the point where I can pay my bills doing a minimal amount of work. I've freelanced as a graphic designer, photographer, and creative director in the past and was always also the type of person who'd always be using my spare time to investigate other business interests also. For the past 4 years I've been running an apparel + accessories brand (using all of the skills from my past businesses) and have recently grown it to the point where I could also do 2 days worth of sales calls and have all my bills paid. The point I'm trying to get at is - I would never be happy doing only 'just enough' and calling it a month. I think you need to hustle harder.

 

You're correct when you say that time is your most valuable asset - but it's not worth anything if you're not spending it on something worthwhile. Is sitting around watching the Walking Dead really a very good time investment? probably not. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I had 50 machines in the garage. especially if I had a wife to worry about.
Think of it this way - if you work 4 days this month instead of 2 and place those machines, you'd have double your money to invest in a new venture and still over 3 weeks to work on it. Not to mention the money you paid for those machines wouldn't be going to waste anymore. You just actually have to do the work. People will leave you alone about going back to school if they see you working towards something, regardless of what it is. Sounds from your post like you took a couple of steps at getting started with vending and then got too comfortable. When I read the earlier post where someone is calling you a daydreamer I thought it was a little harsh but maybe a bit true.

 

I found vending as a side-venture that helps support my apparel business. I was finding myself with a few extra hours a week and for the past year I have been using those hours to learn about vending and grow my small route. The route itself doesn't pay my rent yet but it's allowed me to start saving for the future and to take my girlfriend on a west-coast trip, all good stuff.

 

Starting this year I've also found a co-op student to volunteer in my studio which means I'll hopefully be finding myself with a few more spare hours. I hope I can spend them on another new venture - I realize though I need to actually go execute or it will be time wasted not "valuable time". And until I figure out my next move? I still have my nose to the grindstone on my brand and my vending route, hustle is everything!