Turning Down A DReam Come True
Friday, I wrote a post about feeling like I could keep my head above water with military life, so of course, Sunday night that kicks me in the teeth. We said no to a dream last night. Of course, it isn’t a forever no, and we will still see that dream come true one day, but we knew today wasn’t the day for it. That being said, it is tough to turn down a dream that we know we wouldn’t think twice about if this was 14 years from now and the military was behind us.
When my husband got home from his first deployment, he became incredibly passionate about being more eco-friendly. We started composting, gardening, and looking for ways to limit or eliminate the plastic that comes into our home. That was a lot easier in Oklahoma City than it has been in middle Georgia. Dropping off compost in Oklahoma meant a twenty-minute drive, whereas today, it means 1.5 hours.
But we didn’t let that deter us when we moved. My grandparents bought us a small deep freezer so that we could store compost for longer, and every couple of weeks, we make a day out of going up to Atlanta. Those composting days have become a consistent routine of driving up, dropping off the compost at CHARM, eating lunch at Lee + White, and visiting our favorite refill store, Atlo. This has been our routine every couple of weeks since we moved here over a year ago, so we’ve gotten to know the owner of Atlo pretty well. It helps when you are usually the only customer driving an hour and a half to shop.
Well, the owner has decided it is time to sell the business, and she wants to ensure that it goes to someone passionate about the mission. We decided it was worth having the conversation and got enough information to make an informed decision.
We have known for a long time that opening an eco-friendly shop was the plan when my husband retired. Whether we created a composting business or a refill store, we knew we wanted to be in this market, educating people and helping make a difference in the world. So it felt pretty perfect for a business opportunity that we love to fall into our laps. And yet, after a lengthy discussion, we knew we had to say no. Here’s why:
1. Cost
From a financial perspective, the purchase price the owner has set is clearly intended to keep the mission as the focus. It is well below what I expected, but that still doesn’t mean it is in our budget. We just bought my new car and have set our sights on saving money and paying off debt this year. That doesn't really open the door for another loan and payment. We know from conversations with the owner that this business is a passion project over a money maker. The company is doing well from a balance and liquidity standpoint, but no one is going to get crazy rich off of it, at least not for a very long time.
2. Time
We travel a lot. We have a trip planned nearly every month through the first six months of the year. Being out of town doesn’t mix well with a brick-and-mortar business. And my husband deploys in the fall, which means that everything we discuss as a passion for him will fall on me. It’ll be my first deployment with a toddler, and I’ve already expanded my working responsibility over the past six months. Adding a new, intense thing isn’t going to set us up for success, and the last thing we want to be is the end of this fantastic business.
3. Distance
In the best-case scenario, we live an hour and a half away from the building. That’s not a big deal when we go up every few weeks, but it becomes more of an issue when manning the storefront weekly. It also puts us far away if an emergency happens in the building. If there is a power outage, flood, or break-in, we are not in a position to quickly respond. Managing the business from Macon would be difficult, but even if we could make that work, we are only guaranteed two more years here. Ideally, we extend it, but at the end of that extension, we will either find ourselves looking to sell the business again or figuring out how to manage it from states or even countries away.
4. Knowledge
Neither of us has any real-world business experience. I have worked self-employed for many years, but my only employee has been myself. For the majority of my work, my office has been my car as I went from house to house. It’s given me great experience, but that doesn’t quickly translate over to a brick-and-mortar business. This would be a steep learning curve, and we don’t have the buffer to give it time to fail. Taking over an already successful business provides us with a chance to maintain the pace. Still, it is also a lot to take over with two people who have little to no business experience in the industry.
Fourteen years from now, things will be different. We wouldn’t jump into it quickly, and there would be a steep learning curve, but we would have confidence in figuring it out. Maybe we would still walk away, but the conversation would undoubtedly continue past an initial deck. My husband and I knew it wasn’t the right time when we talked last night. But it is still tough to turn down an opportunity that might be perfect if military life was behind us. We haven’t turned our back on that dream, but we did have to turn down the chance to see it come true this year.
In a sense, it was an easy call to make because we knew it wasn’t right today. But military life demands a lot of sacrifice, and pressing pause on my husband’s dream was difficult.
I talk a lot, and my mission here is to find a way for us as spouses to pursue and achieve our dreams within the constraints of military life. That is a challenge, and putting this dream back on the shelf for now feels like a loss. I have complete faith and confidence that this dream will come true one day, and I may not have to wait 14 years until my husband retires. For now, I will be grateful that we have other dreams to chase today, and I will continue the journey to make dreams come true no matter what the military throws at us.