120 Day Check-In

And just like that, it has been four months. But yet again, has it really only been just four months?

This month (July) brought a huge swing in what I was working on. I knew this instinctively, but the data confirmed it. Before I get into the data, here’s the situation.

Last month, at the end of my check-in, I noted that we had a signed LOI and were going through due diligence. I expected to know by the end of July whether I’d be the proud owner of a business, or back to the drawing board.

So, here we are at the end of July, and I can announce... it's back to the drawing board (insert crowd gasps).

That’s right. After working closely with several banks and narrowing it down to one local bank that was eager to work with us, we just couldn’t come up with a financing plan that was favorable to all parties. In my past update, “Why You Should Definitely Not Buy a Business,” I talked about the challenges of financing. Specifically in our case, the loan as originally requested was considered under-secured by the bank, meaning it lacked sufficient collateral.

The bank offered a few options: 1) purchase the building along with the business and/or 2) put up enough personal collateral (homes and other tangible assets) to de-risk the bank. Buying the building wasn’t ideal—it housed more than just the business we were acquiring, which meant we wouldn’t just become business owners but landlords, too.

Also, the Small Business Administration (SBA) didn’t like the "get the building" idea due to the tenants. The SBA prefers the business owner to occupy more than 50% of the building in SBA-financed loans. That knocked out two of our banks, which only did SBA lending. That left us with one bank willing to work with us outside of SBA. But after several weeks and a lot of hours invested by the bank, they still couldn’t come up with a workable plan. So, we walked away.

Where does that leave me on the business acquisition front? It’s not over, but it’s no longer top priority. I’ll cover more on that in an upcoming post. For now, let’s look at what I actually did this month, since acquiring a business wasn’t it.

Looking at the scoreboard:

July kicked off with a family vacation: part overlanding and camping with friends, then meeting up with my family at an old lodge originally built to house TB patients, but never opened. My family owned it for nearly 50 years starting in the ’60s, operating it as a lodge/resort where my mom spent her childhood summers. This was my first time there.

Also on the personal front, I’ve been biking more for errands. A few months ago, I posted on LinkedIn about my moto “I can walk,” not just for the health benefits, but as a conscious decision to slow down. It began as a way to encourage my son to ride his bike (I refused to drive the one mile there and back each day), and it turned into a decision to use my bike for errands. It started small with trips to Ace Hardware, where I typically did walk. But then expanded to grocery runs, ao full backpack-hauls across town to Harbor Freight, AutoZone, the dollar store, and even TJ Maxx, all in one go.

The first half of the month was devoted mostly to Radio Chatterdeveloping our new iOS app (launching in August) and working to land new wholesalers. One highlight: getting into the on-site store at our local off-road park, Holly Oaks.

The second half was heavily focused on Mountain State Overland. I’ve been helping plan our annual Adventure X Fest. I guided a trip down in West Virginia (not this trip, but this one I did in April), and spent time developing the route for Hammer Down 6. (You can check out last year's Episode 1 of Hammer Down 5 here)

August will be mostly personal and Mountain State Overland. I’m gearing up to head out to Utah—and hopefully Idaho. Bethany flies into Colorado, where I’ll pick her up, and she flies out of Salt Lake City, where I’ll drop her off. From there, I’ll stop by Overland Expo Mountain West to teach a class called “How to Start Your Overlanding Side Hustle.” I’ll be sharing the Radio Chatter journey and giving others a realistic look at how they can start their own business—while being clear about the pros and cons (they don’t call it a hustle for nothing).

When I return, September will include the actual Adventure X Fest I’ve been helping plan. After that, no major events are on the calendar. But it’ll be an important time to double down on the income-generating parts of my journey. As the seasons shift and it gets colder, the time I’ve spent outside tackling personal, hobby, and house projects will come to an end. That change marks the beginning of the next phase in this transition.