I am going to force this year to go out on a high note if it is the last thing I do. This morning didn’t start out well. I woke-up, showered, and was shaving when I cut my pinkie finger with the back blade on my razor. It didn’t hurt or bleed that much at first, but soon after I noticed it the blood flowed like wine.
I am not sure how certain an infection is from this but I wouldn’t be surprised if that crusty never used back blade carries some frightening disease. Who knows, I could be patient zero for the next pandemic. What I do know is that isn’t how I want to close out my 2025.
2025 is a year that will go down in history as one of the worst years of my life. Losing a parent isn’t easy and I relied on my father. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about some of the advise he gave me or of picking up the phone and calling him. He was a life long businessman and now that I own a business I could use that advise.
His slow decline into dementia is one of the factors I give to how tough the past few years have been. I am now looking at the business and seeing it cash flow better than it ever has. I miscalculated how heavy the Christmas payroll would be and we are now in a bit of a pickle but it isn’t one we don’t have a way out of.
I threw too much money at debt services. Debt that is all about to go away. I reached the conclusion that it isn’t prudent to have retirement savings when you’re trying to pay off debt. Pay off the debt and then save for retirement. Making this decision at 44 years old might be foolish but what good is the retirement savings if our business is in a position where we can never leave due to owing money? It had to be paid one way or another.
I am hoping the timing on this works out. That we get the money, pay the debt, and that the massive Christmas payroll doesn’t cause any major disruption to business. One of the reasons we left the company we worked for in Northern Virginia is they started bouncing our paychecks. I don’t want to end up like that, and we shouldn’t. We should be good, but it is a little too close for comfort.
There is also the fact that the Christmas profit should carry us through January and with most of our profit already spent on debt services that is going to be something to watch. I have plans to get more regular clients and I hope it works out. It should, but I feel like I again miscalculated something. Either way this year is ending on a positive note. I will make sure of it.
David Huzzard Writes 