About this time, around the end of 1988, my personal life started to unravel. I was watching and helping others build their fortunes but I was still struggling in the financial department. Financial stress and my basic immaturity led to my demise. I’d been in a relationship spanning better than five years, but it was … Continued
By 1987, my efforts in the rental management department really started to show up in the form of profits for the two judges. Because I’d been responsible and trustworthy with their business and their cash, the judges offered me a percentage of a carwash if I could get it up and running. The old carwash … Continued
To the best of my knowledge the term, low income, refers to the income of the tenants, or maybe it refers to the rents as being low. Whatever the case, it doesn’t take long for me to discern that it does not refer to the amount of profit being made by the landlord. Owning low-income … Continued
Eventually, I sold the land for what I paid for it and recouped my $3,000 down payment. I made a mental note; “It’s hard to get raw land to pay for itself.” Simply put: I needed money. I was broke until I sold the land and got my $3,000 down payment back, plus I sold … Continued
The bartending kept me afloat, but I didn’t want to get caught in that routine like so many others. I’ve witnessed it first-hand. I worked with several guys and gals that’d been in the bar biz for twenty years or more. Bartending was great at twenty-something but I just couldn’t imagine being a bartender at … Continued
From then on things started going downhill. I had more jobs and I tried to start more businesses than I care to count. Everything failed. Texas was in a recession, and I was getting further and further behind little by little. I sold cars. I sold knives. I sold advertising. I sold mobile homes. I … Continued
Around 1982, the pace of that twenty-four hour a day business started to take its toll on me. I’d go to sleep at night and wake up two days later, with everyone pissed off at me. I started finding it increasingly difficult to make it through a day without busting into tears (when no one … Continued
Shortly before I plunged into entrepreneurship, I was fortunate enough to be able to ask a very successful builder a few questions about starting a new business. He informed me that most businesses fail in the first two years due to lack of work ethic and/or lack of money (under capitalization). He also told me … Continued
Somewhere between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Bishop, California, I got side tracked it the tiny town of Tonopah, Nevada (probably be- cause I ran out of money in Vegas). I ended up getting a construction job building a state-of-the-art molybdenum mining plant. To get to the job site, I had to go about three or … Continued
It’s true: If you’re born in Eden, you don’t know you’re blessed. My childhood was picture perfect and I thought the world simply ran like that. I thought that everyone’s mother was beautiful and caring and everyone’s father was handsome and hardworking. My younger brother, Kleat, and I were truly blessed. We had a father … Continued
