Over the last week, the thought came into my head that I want to take my video company out of my house and into a storefront in old downtown Decatur. Why? Good Question. There are 2 "why's".
The first 'why' is: Part of me wants to do something that "is my own". I enjoy my engineering job. But, the creative outlet known as media (video/photo/design) is something that greatly interests me and I've had pretty good success at over the past 10 years. The other thing is, it's something for the kids. More on that in a minute.
You know, the absolute best thing you can do for your kids (from a career and money earning standpoint) is get them interested in something early on. Something that TEACHES A SKILL.
For me when I was in elementary school I become very interested in drawing. I loved drawing. I use to watch "The Secret City" on PBS like everyday. I learned. I practiced. I lived and breathed drawing. My parents always encouraged me and supported my drawing. Those skills I learned when I was 9 years old have served me well to this day at 35. Only now, I'm using a computer most of the time.
The same thing goes for music. My parents we're into playing instruments. Naturally, I became interested too at a young age. My parents encouraged me always. Subsequently I worked 4 years right out of high school selling instruments at a local music store. Without a doubt those were 4 of the best years of my life. Later I got to play gigs all the time as a result of my music skills and practice. When you practice 6-8 hours a day, you will be come quite proficient. Even if you don't have natural talent!
It is absolutely imperative that we as parents instill the mindset of "Anything is possible if I dream it and work hard to achieve it" into our kids brains. Brayden is only 19 months old and I have started this process since day 1. It is probably the single most important duty as a parent in terms of trying to ensure that your kids become successful. And by successful, I mean: At a minimum, having a career they enjoy that allows them to support themselves/family comfortably.
In case you haven't noticed, America is a "KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY". We get paid for what we know. The more you know, and know well, the better compensated you will be. I love the American way, because it allows for us all to actually live our dreams, our wildest dreams. What other country can you so easily start your own business as here in America? All it takes is an idea. Col Sanders didn't even fry his first chicken until he was 65, and now everyone knows and eats at Kentucky Fried Chicken. It is never to late to start a business! America is the land of bounty for all who work hard and press on! That is why I love America!
The second why is, "Why downtown Decatur?" I know it's weird, but there are a lot of great spots for photo ops and video settings all within about 3 blocks. The second is, back when my wife and I were dating, I would meet her at some of the restaurants in the area for lunch a lot. It kind of has a history for me, if that makes any sense.
I've done a lot of research this week and learned that rent/lease is $600-$800/mo for something which would work for me down on Bank Street. After thinking about that some more, that is like having another house payment. So, if it's going to be that much, why not just build a new building with some extra offices and rent those out myself?
I found a lot that is 165 x 165 on Bank street which would be more than adequate to build a building: For lack of a better term "strip mall". But that's not really what I mean. You know a building with 3 or 4 separate spaces for companies, say each is 30'w x 70'd or something like that. Anyway, I haven't checked the price on that yet. Kind of scared to. But now I am definately in the "build and lease to others" mode instead of the "lease myself" mode.
We are 11 months away from being totally debt free and I am seriously looking into ways to increase our income and all indications are owning "rental/lease" property is a good way to make that happen. To me, it almost seems that doing commerical deals would be better than residential rentals, but I haven't researched that completely.
My timeline for action is about 3-4 years. By then Brayden will be in school and I will have been working on training my wife on photo/video/media/computer stuff. It'll probably take 2 years to teach it all. Lots of work ahead, but in the end, I think this could be a great thing.
What if my kids don't want to have anything to do with media? Well, we still own some rental property in a good location (where ever it ends up actually being) that will provide The Root family line income for a very long time.
The next step later on, say 10-12 years down the road will be getting into maybe a condo in Destin, and a condo in Gatlinburg. All that hinges on the economy and housing market staying in a rut though.
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