I Quit My Job – 5 Years Later

Hey, what is up???

I’ve made a big decision over summertime: I’m back writing monthly on my blog!

While posting dividend income reports and podcast updates, I didn’t write much on this blog lately. I have a good excuse, though. I prioritized business growth. But what does this mean if you can’t share your experience?

I blog monthly about lifestyle design, my entrepreneurial journey, and finance. I thought of starting with a review of my last five years as a “free man from the corporate world.” To get in the mood, I went back and read “The Question Haunting Me,” a reflection about why I quit a six-figure-paying job in my mid 30’s to live passionately.

It was a good reminder of that question; “What do you want to do?”

I’ll come back at the end of the post with the answer to that question.

I didn’t realize, but I wrote an update on my business journey almost every year since I quit in 2017.

You can read them here:

2018 – I Have One Year Left Until Full FIRE

2019 – The Dream, The Frustrations, The Achievements

2020 – The life I always wanted

I went back in time to reread those articles. Interestingly, I noticed that I have the same dream, making the same mistakes and reaching a little more freedom in each piece. I used this introspection to summarize my learnings (hopefully, I’ll keep them in mind this time!)

What I’ve learned so far

It’s never enough. Regardless of how fast I grow the business, I’ll never be satisfied. It’s a good thing, but I must remember to have fun during the journey… because I’ll never reach my destination.

Constantly optimize. Even when you think you are efficient, there are ways to improve. Hiring is rarely the solution. Just do more with what you have.

Use leverage. I’m not just talking about using the bank’s money here. I must think of leveraging my knowledge, my various platforms, my network, and my employees’ strengths.

Cash is king. It seems I keep forgetting this one! While I got better at tracking cash flow, I have this terrible tendency to have fun first and then budget the fun once I paid for it(hello, Kilimanjaro!).

Worry all the time. I must always be one step ahead and be concerned about what could happen next. The more I worry about the business, the better it will become. With that in mind, I constantly find ways to improve our services to our members.

Focus makes marvel. One thing I still find hard even after five years is to keep my focus for the entire day, for five days in a row. I’ve learned to maximize my time and energy with different tasks. Having a standing desk also helps to change my energy level throughout the day.

2022 – A greater taste of lifestyle design

Fast forward to 2022, my journey has evolved once more time. The journey is different but as exciting. I’ve gained more freedom of time while working on larger projects. I’m now thinking of diversification on top of growing my membership.

In terms of lifestyle, I can’t complain. I spent a month in Africa this year, and it didn’t impact the business. I have exceptional employees in place, and we have improved our content delivery process to a point where we can be almost two months in advance. It gives me the luxury of taking time off, and I don’t have to worry.

We have built planning tools where everybody knows which content will be published on which platform way in advance. We are getting more efficient in sharing our content and helping investors through our podcast, YouTube channel, social media, and, of course, our membership.

I’m also facing different challenges. For example, our renewal rate at DSR is fantastic, over 80%. When you sell ten memberships in year 1, you have eight memberships renewing in year 2. You then have to sell two memberships to generate the same income you made in year 1. Anything above two sales is growth.

But what happens when you have 400 renewals in a month? 320 renews, and you must sell 80 memberships in a month just to break even with the previous year. The more you grow your membership, the harder it gets to generate higher revenue.

What do you want to do?

So here’s come the big question again.

I’m not 100% sure. I’m having a lot of fun now and like what I have built. It looks like I could think bigger, though. I’ve set a list of objectives for 2022 and included Real Estate investing. I’m considering acquiring a plex in the coming quarters (most likely at the beginning of 2023). It would be a great way to diversify my source of income and build additional wealth.

What do I want to do? I certainly want to continue. I want to live life to its full extent and enjoy every moment.

I know I’ll stay in Quebec for another ten years. I want to give enough time for my children to get settled in their life. It gives me an investing horizon of ten years to play “Monopoly” and enjoy this precious time with my friends and family.

In the coming months, I’ll get more specific about my business challenges and entrepreneur journey in the coming month. Ask me any questions; I’m an open book!

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