In my opinion, that's the most important factor in making it.
I bring this up because someone I've known since TLC started complimented our success. He also said something about the intelligence behind it.
And I stopped him right there. I told him that we if we counted on our intelligence to make it we'd be in trouble.
Because we've made many costly mistakes in 23 years. We've started more than a dozen businesses. Today only four are still operating.
For example, we once had the great idea to start a Mexican restaurant featuring Santa Fe style food. (I think one of the guys involved was from New Mexico.)
Anyway, the first month we lost over $20,000. Our best month we lost something like $5,000. After dumping more than $100,000 into it in a year, we closed it. And we moved on.
Because we have around 800 beds we decided to open a mattress factory about 15 years ago. We thought we'd save by rebuilding donated mattresses. Turns out it cost us 50% more to rebuild them than we would pay at a used mattress store. We don't talk much about that one either.
We also refurbished computers. Ran a telemarketing room. Had an air-conditioning operation. Operated three markets. A landscaping service. And some other businesses.
The point is that we never let lack of experience - or skill - slow us down.
At TLC we have an interesting collection of long time addicts, ex-felons, and others with all kinds of challenges.
And because many of us have failed over and over in our personal lives, a few business setbacks don't slow us down at all. In some respects, our rough experiences may have made us more resilient.
When life knocks on our butts we get up, dust off our pants, and keep going. That’s been our formula for success. And recovery.
