The Accidental Entrepreneur: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom Through Successful Business Acquisitions

By James P. Shanahan

A sequel to "Finding the Angle", author and successful entrepreneur James P. Shanahan shares how he transitioned from working for wages to building a family partnership with his four sons. To help readers gain ground quickly, he details how he and the family partnership found solutions and fine-tuned their company acquisitions. The stories of these acquisitions, as well as the information in the business essays can be useful to students, first-time entrepreneurs, management, and business leaders who are seeking to improve current free cash flows. Shanahan's evolution to Wisdom will educate and entertain you.

Education + Learning on the Job + Experience = Knowledge + Pain = WISDOM

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667846316

Book preview

Text, letter Description automatically generated

DISCLAIMER

Mark Twain said it best, There is no such thing as a new idea.  It is impossible.  We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope.  We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations.

As a society, we are compelled to revisit ideas in order to extract the maximum amount of wisdom.  But we also do it to gain insight and find meaning in ourselves and our actions.  As a disclaimer, this is also my process.  I learn from countless sources every day, and once I digest and interpret my findings, I apply them in a more specific way to the circumstances of my sons and business partners.  That is the way I write my Business Essays, so even though I am always eager to share this information, I would never want to take credit for everything I have included.  Many, many great minds are represented in the pages that follow.

I have changed some names to protect individuals’ and companies’ privacy and to maintain their anonymity.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

MMXXII Print and E-Book Edition. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-66784-631-6

Edited by: Judy Ruddy and Ana Trejo

Table of Contents

PROLOGUE

INTRODUCTION

PREREQUISITES FOR FINANCIAL FREEDOM

Chapter 1

WORKING FOR WAGES

Chapter 2

THE START OF THE ACCIDENTAL ENTREPRENEUR - KRANCO

Chapter 3

A JOB AGAIN

Chapter 4

THE ORIGINAL VISION

Chapter 5

FORMATION OF THE SHANAHAN FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

Chapter 6

THE BIG PICTURE

Chapter 7

EVOLUTION OF THE SHANAHAN OPERATING PARTNERSHIP

Chapter 8

FRESH MEX HANDMADE MEXICAN FOOD TEXAS, 1992

Chapter 9

CREATIVE CUISINE CATERING TEXAS, 1994

Chapter 10

Acquisition Process Overview

Chapter 11

JAMES MANUFACTURING TEXAS, 1993

Chapter 12

TRAINING PARTNERS CALIFORNIA, 2002

Chapter 13

The Formation and Growth of Our Holding Company SHANAHAN Training

TEXAS, 2009

Chapter 14

CATERING ACQUISITIONS

Chapter 15

FLOORING BUSINESSES

Chapter 16

H&H MACHINE SERVICES TEXAS, 2018

Chapter 17

LAKESIDE GOLF TEXAS, 2017

Chapter 18

PORTSIDE GOLF CARTS FLORIDA, 2020

Chapter 19

OUR 2022 VISION AND STRUCTURE

INTRODUCTION TO THE BUSINESS ESSAYS

ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES

ACQUISITION CANDIDATE PROFILE

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON ACQUISITION FORECASTS

EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING DURING THE ACQUISITION PROCESS

RISK AND CONTROL OF INVESTMENTS

KEY Executive Compensation Agreement

OTHER DUE DILIGENCE INFORMATION

DUE DILIGENCE AT THE 50,000 FT LEVEL

PROCESS FOR APPROACHING THE SELLER

Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement Definitions

POST-PURCHASE ORGANIC IMPROVEMENTS

PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND CLOSING ISSUES CHECKLIST

RELATING COMPENSATION TO PERFORMANCE

RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) DISCUSSIONS

SHOULD YOU BUY AN EXISTING BUSINESS OR START A NEW ONE?

THE PROS AND CONS OF USING A BROKER

The Use of Debt in Your Capital Structure

THINGS ARE OFTEN NOT WHAT THEY SEEM TO BE

MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING and METRICS

AN UNDERSTANDING OF DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION

BUDGETING

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING VERSUS MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING

MONTH-END FINANCIAL CLOSING PACKAGE

PRICING YOUR PRODUCTS

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR BUSINESS

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS, MOTIVATION, AND RETENTION

HIRING PROCESS

WHAT EMPLOYEES WANT

Marketing and Sales

COMMUNICATIONS AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

SALES AND TIME MANAGEMENT

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIALS

ACCOUNTING PRACTICES TO AVOID FRAUD AND EMBEZZLEMENT

INVENTORY PROCEDURES BY CATEGORY

RETAINED EARNINGS

Personal Development

BECOMING A BOSS - FOR NEW SUPERVISORS

DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET TRAPPED

EVERYTHING WORKS AND EVERYTHING MATTERS

FOUR PHASES OF LEARNING FOR ANY STUDENT

RISK CONSIDERATIONS WHEN ACQUIRING A BUSINESS

USING PERSUASION VERSUS POWER

WHAT KEEPS SOME PEOPLE FROM SUCCEEDING

PLANNED WORK VERSUS REACTIVE WORK

Shanahan Operating Partnership’s Culture and Vision

FAMILY BUSINESSES AND THEIR EVOLUTIONS

INVESTING IN THE STOCK MARKET GUIDELINES

PROLOGUE

It is 2020, and I recently turned 80.  I am still reclining in bed at 10:00 a.m. and starting my second cup of coffee while engrossed in a book.  After a morning call from someone special in my life, I settle back to continue my book and for a moment I pause, savoring the taste of coffee and reflecting on my enjoyable state of life. 

I often wonder how I could be so fortunate.  Was it a combination of hard work, vision, and passion, or was it a degree of sheer luck, or even divine deliverance that has blessed me?  Most people arrive at age 65 eager to retire; however, they did not prepare adequately and miss out on what are supposed to be golden years.  One thing that I am certain of is that after many years of hard work, I now have financial independence and freedom.  I am still involved in our family businesses, and this involvement has become a passionate hobby.  Because I am still contributing to the partnership, I feel valuable during my retirement years.

Upon reflection, I concluded that the journey that resulted in my happy state of mind today mostly started at the age of 21 when I met my wife Rose in 1961.  We were true partners in life and business, and we raised four sons who are my partners in our family partnership.  I am still mentoring them, although by now, I have delegated nearly 90% of the day-to-day operations to them.  My boys also enjoy the gifts of good health and financial freedom, and they are the heads of their own families now.  There are 12 grandchildren between them, ranging in age from 6 to 21.  Financial independence has served them well.

From these thoughts and reflections, I decided to write two books.  The first, Finding the Angle, was about my life from 1940 until 1985, the first 45 years of my life.  This short book was primarily for my grandchildren, so they would have some knowledge of their heritage and relatives.  My grandparents did not leave information about their pasts, and I longed to know about our lineage and histories.  Five of my grandchildren were babies when their grandmother Rose passed away, and several were not born yet. 

My second book, The Accidental Entrepreneur, begins in 1985 when I accepted a new job as President and CEO at Kranco, Inc. in Houston, Texas.  As part of my employment contract, I received 10% ownership in this company, and I refer to this ownership as accidental.  In this book, I combine my 26 years of small business and 24 years of large business experiences to educate readers on how to form a business and use this business to acquire additional businesses. 

I have not seen another how-to book on starting and developing a family partnership and believe it should have a wide interest beyond my own family, because I share detailed instructions to execute this concept and achieve financial freedom.  I know it would have made our journey much easier if we had been given a guide on how to accomplish what we have.  You too can achieve this fulfilling state of being for yourself and your family.

The book is not intended to be an instructional book on becoming an entrepreneur.  It is intended to tell you how we accomplished our eventual success in forming a family partnership and then grew by acquiring small successful businesses.  Detailed stories about our journey, including the pain of failure along the way, should assist you in your journey if you wish to become an entrepreneur.

I have read many stories about the source of happiness, and I watched an excellent presentation on TEDx about relationships.  Happiness comes from maintaining good relationships with your friends and family.  Especially your family.  I have been lucky to have a family that shared my journey and allowed us to strengthen our relationships during tough times. They are the best partners I could ever have chosen. We had each other’s backs along the way. No drama, no greed, and no hard feelings, just a lot of patience and hard work. I want to take this opportunity to thank my sons Patrick, Michael, Daniel, and Timothy for their loyalty for the past thirty years and their spouses for all their effort and support.  Working with my sons and my family these last years of my life has given me much joy and happiness.

I especially want to thank my wife Rose who was on board from the beginning and throughout this journey until she prematurely passed away.  Even after I told her that if we failed, we would be personally bankrupted, she was supportive of spending our future retirement funds.  I also want to thank someone special in my life who has always encouraged and supported me for the past 15 years, Judy.

INTRODUCTION

If I told you that I was finally able to turbocharge my income and provide financial independence for myself and my large family after leaving my 9 to 5 working for wages job at the age of 45, would you be interested in learning how to do this for yourself?  Would you be even more interested if I told you that you could make your passion and your work one and the same and be able to enjoy it with your family or with people whose company you desire?

This book is a GPS roadmap to our journey to financial freedom.  We share business lesson experiences that serve as shortcuts to reach your destination quicker.  If your goal is to break free from working for wages and achieve financial freedom, then you are ready to recalibrate.

This is not another abstract inspirational or motivational book.  This book will provide you with a toolbox to put motivation and inspiration to work.

Financial independence and freedom mean different things to different people.  For me, they mean freedom to live the life you want, freedom to help your family, friends, and community, and free to contribute to society.  Freedom to make your own decisions without interference or second-guessing.

To truly appreciate what financial independence means, you should identify its opposite meaning — financial enslavement — and ask yourself if that is how you want to spend the rest of your life.  Running the rat race and fulfilling someone else’s business dream is like locking yourself in a cage filled with limitations and throwing away the key.  Most people will settle for what they believe is the safety net and block out their innate entrepreneurial spirit.

Our forefathers came to this country to seek jobs and more freedom and wound up seeing a new frontier.  Some of them and their families set up shops and passed down those shops and wealth for generations.  Those town shops then grew into multi-location businesses, which eventually formed enterprises, and then industries.  Well, that frontier still exists today. I know because we have moved there.  My four grandparents took a risk and left their homes, culture, and families in Ireland.  Because of their actions, they gave me opportunities, and now I am scaling up and passing them on to my grandchildren.

This is not an infomercial, and we do not want to enroll you in any sort of paid program.  I believe you can leverage yourself and achieve what my family and I accomplished by reading and understanding this book.  You can do this easier and faster than we did and bypass many of the trials and tribulations that we experienced.  If you are looking for financial independence and a fulfilling life, then this book is for you. 

The Accidental Entrepreneur is connected to a previous book I wrote for my children and grandchildren titled Finding the Angle.  This current book was written for a wider audience interested in achieving financial independence as opposed to working for wages.  Finding the angle is an expression I use frequently in this book and is an attitude and mindset.  It is about having the determination not to give up when there is an obstacle or a challenge.  You can always find a way around the challenges you will face which I call finding the angle. 

There are many ways to achieve the goal of financial freedom, and in this book, I will share how my family and I achieved this by acquiring small to mid-size successful businesses.  However, before we get into the stories about the various acquisitions that we made, I would first like to share a story about an early opportunity that, although it ended in failure, fueled my desire to become an entrepreneur.

Our Amateur Acquisition — Pollo Natural 

I made my first serious investment as an unintended and beginning entrepreneur in 1979 when I was 39 years old and still working for wages.  I was the district manager of our Los Angeles (L.A.), California territory and the manager of Mexico for Harnischfeger Corporation, once a world leader in mining equipment for both surface and underground operations, and the leading overhead and construction crane manufacturer in the U.S., based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Harnischfeger at that time was a Fortune 500 company.  I had a routine schedule of flying on Western Airlines from L.A. to Mexico City every other Sunday with a returning flight on Friday afternoon.

While in the waiting room for flights, I spent my time either reading or observing travelers.  For many weeks, I noticed and continued to observe an interesting guy around my age who stood out from the rest of the crowd.  He was about 6’2", with an athletic appearance, and handsome.  He commanded attention with his self-assurance and fashionable clothes.  Occasionally I would see him travel with an extremely attractive woman.  My observations went on for months, and I was curious about the purpose of their trips; however, we were never seated together and had no reason to have a conversation.

Finally, on one trip back to L.A., he and I were seated in the same row.  He had the window seat, I had the aisle seat, and the middle seat was empty.  We struck up a conversation and both mentioned that we had noticed each other showing up for the same flights and seemed to be on a similar schedule.  This led to discussions about what we were doing in Mexico.  His name was Joe Bleekman, and the woman I had periodically seen him with was his wife.  On our later return flights to L.A., I would sometimes see Joe’s wife waiting for him at the airport in a brand-new Mercedes convertible.  They exuded the Hollywood lifestyle, and I was impressed.

Joe was a life insurance salesperson for an insurance company, and he mentioned that he was featured in an article in The Wall Street Journal because of his success in sales volume.  He had been noted as being the top premium writer in the industry.  I do not recall the name of the insurance company, but it was one of the top three in the U.S.  His wife’s family had an exclusive jewelry business in Mexico and L.A. which meant that he networked with a wealthy group of potential clients in Mexico.  He shared that he would normally schedule a breakfast meeting and a lunch meeting while in Mexico to discuss insurance, and about 50% of the time, he would write up an above-average policy.

Joe’s high success rate, in addition to having this high-wealth network, was fueled by intercountry distrust.  His potential clients did not trust the Mexican life insurance companies, and the U.S. companies did not trust the Mexican clients, insurance salespeople, or doctors.  Joe’s highly favored position at his company allowed him to hire an insurance-approved doctor from L.A. to come to Mexico once per month to conduct his clients’ physical examinations, and the underwriters were willing to bind the policies.

We started a friendship and met several times for dinner in Mexico.  He also introduced his wife to me on one of their trips together.

Finally, on one Friday trip back to L.A., in 1980, he told me that he and his estate attorney friend in Beverly Hills, David Klein, were starting a group of rotisserie chicken restaurants in L.A.  These restaurants were a copycat of the restaurants in Mexico City that roasted whole chickens over a wood fire on a rotisserie in their windows.  They were served either as whole, half, or quartered chickens, and were primarily sold to go.

Joe and David had hired an Ecuadorian chef to develop the menu and their concept was to expand the Mexican menu items to include empanadas stuffed with chicken, spinach, or cheese.  Empanada means wrap in bread.  The bread is a golden-brown, baked, crescent-shaped pastry with flaky layers.  In addition to the main ingredient, the stuffing included savory South American style seasonings.  The chicken stuffing would be resourcefully made from the unsold chickens at the end of the day.  They also would make chicken soup from leftovers.  This process reduced the cost of goods sold. 

There were several other healthy items on the menu such as frozen yogurt and orange juice.  They also had fruit-stuffed empanadas for breakfast or dessert.  Joe’s wife had received the American Heart Association’s formal endorsement for their menu.  The name of the restaurant concept was Pollo Natural, which was appealing to West Coast consumers.

I broke all the rules that I eventually established to gain financial freedom and asked if I could invest in the restaurant in 1980.  Joe indicated they would be willing to sell me 10% for $64,000.  This was slightly less than our savings, so I had enough cash and we invested.  I was excited about the potential long-term return, but my decision was based mostly on intuition.

About a month later, I went to my first owners’ meeting to discuss the progress of the project and to visit the site.  The first restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard near Highway 405 was near completion.  Pollo Natural was in a strip center, and Santa Monica Boulevard had a very high traffic count of our target demographic.  I also looked at two future sites where the build-outs had not been started, and even to my uneducated eye, they looked like poor locations.  At the first meeting, I discovered that compared to all the owners, I had the most knowledge about managing a business and mine was limited.  Finally, it was revealed in the meeting that the budget for the project was insufficient, and they were having cost overruns.  They needed a bank loan, and the loan required personal guarantees.

I now had second thoughts about this investment, and for the first time considered the risk.  Previously, I had only considered the opportunity based on intuition.  I agreed to meet with Joe and David at the bank the following week to sign documents.  I am embarrassed to admit that I believed my guarantee would be limited to my percent of ownership.

The first store finally opened substantially over budget, but it was successful, and I started to regain my enthusiasm.  The food was excellent, and we had positive cash flow for the store, but not the project.  Joe and his wife contributed by promoting the restaurant.  We had a grand opening and many of their affluent friends were in attendance, the American Heart Association sent several people, and we had some press.

David Klein was strictly a passive investor.  By default, operations were delegated to me.  The first thing I had to do was hire a general manager and assist him in developing proper processes and a financial budget.  At the time, the chefs were running everything, and the food and labor costs were rising.  An operating budget had never been prepared by Joe or David.

At one of our meetings, we met at Joe’s house on top of Beverly Hills.  By all appearances, he lived a life of luxury.  I had also been to David’s house in Beverly Hills, and they had life-sized sculptures in their backyard from a famous Mexican artist, Francisco Zuniga, that were worth a fortune.  He had a live-in maid and his wife always swooped in as if she had just returned from the salon. Based on these observations, I believed I was jointly invested with high rollers and need not worry about further cost overruns or their lack of experience.

About this time, Harnischfeger promoted me again and transferred me to corporate headquarters in Milwaukee, and you probably know by now how this turns out…bankruptcy for Pollo Natural.  Based on my conversations with David, it became evident that Joe’s image was not real.  Joe was living well beyond his means and was personally in debt.  He had to file for personal bankruptcy.  Apparently, he had personally borrowed the monies for his investment equity in Pollo Natural.  The project was so far over budget that the final store could not be opened.

Business and personal funds had gotten mixed, and the business had to file for bankruptcy.  The final blow for me, Mr. Naïve (a person showing a lack of experience or judgment), was that I had personally guaranteed a $200,000 loan and found out the bank goes after whoever has assets for the entire amount.  Joe’s personal bankruptcy left David and me to deal with the bank, and I was far away in Milwaukee.  Fortunately, David was an attorney, so we did not have to hire one and he was able to negotiate a settlement for the two of us.  I was released from the guarantee for $20,000 cash, for a total loss of $84,000 which was a good portion of my net worth in 1981.

Lessons learned: Do not just depend on your intuition and skim the superficial surface of a potential investment. You must always do a deep dive and research the company, which is referred to as due diligence before you invest.  Also, starting a business from scratch is extremely difficult and the odds of success are not in your favor.  There are many other rules to follow to avoid my mistakes that will be covered in the following chapters.

This story about our amateur acquisition is not how you achieve financial freedom.  This experience along with another 25 acquisitions, with some failures and lessons along the way, has provided me with an education that I am passing on to you, so you never have to feel as painfully inexperienced and amateurish as I did in 1980.  But I also want to quickly point out that despite my failure, I still enjoyed this part of the journey and its lessons, and I believe my investment has had many years of returns, as I hope you will see as you read the stories leading to our eventual success.

PREREQUISITES FOR FINANCIAL FREEDOM

Before you read this book and embark on your journey to find financial freedom, make sure you are equipped with some basic knowledge.  First, you should understand basic accounting and finance.  You can either purchase a book or watch some YouTube videos on these subjects to fill any gaps you may have in your education. I will not be teaching these subjects in this book, but they will be referenced periodically and are necessary for assessing acquisition candidates.

You should become familiar with Profit and Loss Statements, Balance Sheet Statements, and Cash Flow Statements.  By studying these you will understand the assets and liabilities and ratios that are important.  I cover some of this detail in my Business Essays in the last section of this book and in some of the following chapters.

One term or acronym that is used repeatedly and probably deserves an explanation upfront is EBDITA, or ADJUSTED EBDITA and SDE.  SDE means Sellers discretionary earnings, and for our purposes ADJUSTED EBDITA is basically the same thing and is the term we normally use.

EBDITA:

E = Pre-Tax earnings in the Profit and Loss Statement

B = Before

D = Depreciation (Depreciation is a non-cash expense)

I = Interest that you pay on your debt

T = Income Tax paid, and

A = Amortization (Amortization is also a non-cash expense)

Basically, you want to determine the free cash flow that will be available to pay future dividends to the shareholders or for future investments. The ADJUSTED portion of the EBDITA is the amount of monies in the Profit and Loss Statements paid to the Seller of the business and other family members who will not be remaining after you acquire the assets. This amount will be added to your estimated free cash flow.

Your free cash flow divided by the price you pay for the business is considered your ROI or Return on Investment.

The next thing you require is some minimum amount of cash to invest.  This can come from your savings or from borrowing from your family and friends.  The size of the business you start or may acquire will determine just how much cash you will need.  Neither this book nor I provide a source of funding.

Until you can navigate these prerequisites, you will more than likely have to continue to work for wages.

CHAPTERS

Chapter 1

WORKING FOR WAGES

Some kids’ first jobs are cutting the lawn.  I started out working for wages in Chicago, Illinois when I was 10 years old by caddying six days a week during summer vacations.  With these earnings, I was able to assist my mother, a single parent, with tuition for my sister and me at a Catholic grammar school.  This was in the early 1950s.  Obviously, child labor laws were different back then.  While caddying, I noticed that many members were business owners or were professionals such as doctors and lawyers which allowed them to play golf on a Wednesday afternoon or a Tuesday morning.  Despite my observation that these golfers might be special, up until now everyone I personally knew worked for wages. 

I continued working for wages for the next 35 years, including the time I was in high school and the three years I was in the Army.  All my relatives also worked for wages.  My grandparents on both sides immigrated to the United States from Ireland in their twenties.  They were happy to get a job and work for wages.  For a long time, I was not consciously aware of any other method of earning an income.  Fortunately, when I was discharged from the Army, I had enough sense to use the GI Bill and attend college at night, eventually receiving an associate degree in industrial engineering in 1964.  The school advertised itself as the back door to management and that proved to be valid and worthwhile.  I went to work as an industrial engineer in 1964 for $7,000 a year in wages.

I did not know back in 1964 that working for wages does not allow you to accrue any wealth and achieve financial freedom because inflation is going up at the same rate as your wages, about 2% to 3% according to inflation statistics.  So, if you wanted to build up some savings, which most people probably use as a down payment on a house, you either had to work two jobs, have your wife work, or find ways to earn promotions so your wage increases were greater than inflation.  If you were disciplined and did not try to increase your standard of living all at once, you could slowly save for some future goal.  This is the American capitalist system.  It is the greatest country and system in the world, but it is not necessarily fair.  If you have money to begin with, which is capital, you can grow your personal wealth at a far faster rate than inflation.  My observation has been that this is what eventually creates the top 1% of wealth by income or net worth.  I found out later in life how you could eventually achieve financial freedom, and it was not by the common practice of working for wages.

I became a responsible provider as an adult when I married my sweetheart in 1964, and we had our first son.  Over the next 10 years, despite increasing my income every year by way of promotions, I never had any discretionary income beyond the small amount I saved for an eventual home purchase.  My family size was increasing, and our expenses went up every year.  We had four children in seven years.  Finally, in 1974, I started to get ahead of the curve and was earning more than my ever-increasing expenses.  We were now living in a beautiful home in scenic Seattle, Washington which was the fourth city we had lived in since we were married.  I was finally at a point in my life where I had discretionary income (capital), but I lacked the wisdom and knowledge to invest wisely, and I had no father or mentors to give me advice.

I began by slowly investing in the stock market without any real training, and the timing was bad. 1974 was a horrible year in the stock market.  In April 1974, the market value bottomed out after two years of dropping.  The S&P 500 bottom that year was $65.  The current value of the S&P 500 now is more than $4,000 as of May 2021.

I also read a great deal which expanded my knowledge and horizons.  I began to understand myself better and started to realize, among many other things, that I did not like authority.  I desired autonomy, and the more autonomy I had, the better my results.  I also noticed that achieving measurable results, or what is called meritocracy, was not the culture of many large companies, including the one I had been working for since 1966.  Being in Seattle, which was 3,000 miles from corporate headquarters, provided me considerable independence; but I also began to realize that owning my own business would really suit me better than working for wages in a political, corporate environment.  I could also see that owning a business would accelerate my capital growth, eliminate any cap on my earning potential, and would eventually generate enough income that I could achieve financial independence with passive income. I also recognized there was a large amount of startup time and cost and a high degree of risk with this option.  Remember, I had four growing boys who eventually had to be put through college.

During this phase of thinking, I was promoted to the manager of Mexico, with my office located in L.A.  This new job came with a substantial increase in income and more independence and