The Beginning of My Business — I Still Don't Know What I'm Doing

YES!!! Thanks for sticking with me for that race recap. I know that it was very motorcycle oriented and not much to do with the bigger picture of life on the surface but from here on out I will try to show that it was a pivotal moment in my life that changed the course of my life.

After finishing the 2006 Baja 1000 solo I came back to Gunnison a different person. I had done lots of big and challenging things before in my life but there was something different now. That race had been so far out of my comfort zone that success had given me a sense of confidence that I hadn’t had before. When I returned to work with Fritz at Gunnison Motorsports I was immediately interested in doing something else. While I was in Phoenix at MMI I had decided that I wanted my own business but I hadn’t really taken that seriously and had no plans of how to do it. Now I was resolute! The 1000 finishes at the end of November and in December I had my articles of organization written up and had formed Highland Cycles LLC.

I hadn’t told Fritz yet because I didn’t know when I would break away. Here is another wrinkle in the story. I hadn’t really told my wife either. Early in 2007 I began to think about where I would plant Highland Cycles. I knew that Gunnison wouldn’t work. There were already two, established shops in town and there wasn’t room for a third. Montrose seemed like a pretty good idea but I didn’t know the town all that well even though Ruth’s parents still lived there. On a day off when Ruth was working I headed to Montrose to look around. I found a place that was for rent and seemed like it was about the right price (I had no idea if it was priced right or not) so I talked to the owner and made up my mind. I was going to open a shop here!

At the time I had exactly NO real money and still hadn’t told Ruth that I was moving forward. I came home and went to my local Wells Fargo branch and asked them if I could have some money to start a business. Rewind to 2007 and you’ll remember that it was the time of “free” money and easy loans. They asked for my articles of organization and effectively said “How much would you like?” Not having any clue what I was doing I asked for $100,000. They said “Sure!” I signed some papers, called the landlord in Montrose and made the decision. You are reading this right, I still hadn’t talked to my wife who was currently doing most of the work of raising our brand new, five month old son. If you think you have made some questionable financial decisions behind your spouses back let me put this into perspective.

Without any communication I had effectively doubled our entire debt, signed a 5 year lease on a building for over $1800 a month, and committed to starting a business I had no idea how to run in a town that was over 60 miles away from our home. Yeah, I was that stupid. It is easy to look at this from over 10 years in the future and feel like it was all the right decision and I do believe that God has a plan for my life and that this is part of it but I could have saved myself and my wife a TON of pain and suffering if I had done it a little differently. But… I didn’t and that is what lead me down this crazy path that I am still on.

I think that together we will see that it was and is all worth it as we continue down this nutzo journey. You might be thinking that this was the worst thing I did but it isn’t even close. I was just beginning to make bad decisions. It is going to get painful before it gets hopeful and I hope you stay with me for it and hopefully I can save someone the pain I experienced. As the title of this blog says, I Still Don’t Know What I’m Doing!

Thanks for reading as always. I am sorry I was off for a few days but I was in the California desert racing dirt bikes. I will have an article about that on my other website if you are interested in that stuff too.

Like, comment or share if you feel so inclined and remember to be grateful.

Today I am thankful for, forgiveness, grace and mercy from God!

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