Entrepreneurship

I imagine most sane people aren’t trying to run three small businesses at once, and adding blogging and learning to teach English as a Second Language on top of it. I am, though. I have my law firm, my travel agency, and our rental property business. At least that marathon is over and I can walk almost normally again. I have been sleeping extremely well this week, too, mostly due to exhaustion.

Entrepreneurship is a blessing and a curse. It is liberating to have total control over my work-product, but that requires that I produce. I also have the ability to schedule any time off that I want, but I can’t expect to make any money (PTO=fantasy) if I’m not working and I also need to be available or have someone ready to cover for me. While I can also technically set any hours that I want, demands are always placed on my time and schedule by clients and the court. Working on the rental properties can quickly kill an entire weekend. There really aren’t any true “days off.” It is impossible to “leave it at the office” when the office primarily resides in my computer and my brain, which are both always with me. Besides Uncle Sam, I don’t need to share any of my profits, although he might take more than his fair share.

After being in control for so long, it is going to be difficult to find someone I trust to manage the rental property business when we move on. The rental property business is the linchpin to our ability to be paycheck-free, so the importance of this decision cannot be overstated. I’m getting used to the idea that I won’t be a full-time lawyer for much longer and I’m glad. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to sell my practice to some young, aspiring attorney. The stress of dealing with everyone else’s problems isn’t something that I will miss. I also won’t miss clients deciding not to pay their legal bills - you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how often this happens.

I’d like to devote more time to building my travel agency business. I simply don’t know where to fit it in right now. Work continually ebbs and flows, ebbs and flows, so I’m confident that the time will materialize soon. At least I’m following my own best advice about starting a new business and keeping my overhead low (write that down - it is a good one). Right now, though, I better get back to work. I think I’ll start with the pile on the left…