I never thought for a minute that this transition would be easy. I also didn’t think it would be this hard.

Here I am, two full weeks into my new business and I have yet to land a job. Now, I wasn’t naive to the point that I thought a sudden avalanche of business would just magically flow my way from the day I opened the doors. However, I did think that within two weeks I would have landed at least one job. Not a big job, but something small to at least get me moving in the right direction. But so far, zero, zip, nada!

The time hasn’t been wasted as there is a lot to do to make sure I am prepared for that magic moment and everything that follows. I have spent a lot of time driving to local businesses and pounding the pavement meeting people that might have a need for my services. Additionally, I been signing up for service companies that act as the intermediary between companies and folks like myself, for a fee of course. I expect hope that at some point there will be a return on this investment.

The hardest moment so far came when it was payday Friday and I didn’t have a check deposited. It’s hard to see only one paycheck roll in when you are used to seeing two. It’s also hard to look at a cash flow forecast and see a point where it turns red. Now to be clear, that doesn’t mean we run out of money at that point. What it means is that we have to start dipping into our savings to sustain our lifestyle. Which also means we begin pushing back our FI clock. Not an ideal situation!

I am taking steps to try and limit the negative cash flow. I started working one of those gig jobs in my spare time. I haven’t fully jumped into it yet as I wanted to see how I feel about the process before really committing more time. So far it hasn’t been bad, but it doesn’t seem like a real money maker. But if it helps bring in some cash I’m going to do it until business picks up.

If the gig job turns out to not be worth the time and effort then we will be turning to more cost cutting measures. The car I am using is an extra vehicle that we are eventually going to get rid of. I was holding onto it because it gets 40 MPG and would be more cost effective than our other car in the gig job and for the business. But we are also making payments on the car and have additional parking fees through our HOA.

It might be better in the long run to sell the car and save on the payment and related expenses. I’m going to give it another month or so and then make a decision. This way I can get a true gauge on the profitability of the gig job and hopefully get some business. But I need to make a decision before I put too many miles on the car and decrease the value.

I’m confident that this business will be successful in the long run. Fighting through the transition period and establishing a reputation for reliability and accuracy was always going to be the the challenge. Once I get an opportunity to prove myself I need to execute my responsibilities flawlessly as that is what will lead to future and more consistent business. Until that opportunity comes I need to be patient and continue networking and building relationships.

One other note, I had mentioned in a previous blog that my son has had big dreams of going to a specific university for many years. Well, that dream is now going to become a reality as he was accepted and committed to said university. We can now add tuition for a major university to the to do list of things to figure out.

Happy times…………………………

Joe