Help, What Should I Do???

Hey guys, here's the problem. Many of you know where I'm at in my life right now, but for those that aren't familiar I will recap. I recently left East TN., where I have lived most of my life, and a job that I loved, to move to Daytona Beach, Florida to open my own business. In the process, I have sunk all my savings into the move and frankly for the first time in my life actually know what being broke is like.

Anyway, I am here now, and for the first few days I liked it alot. It's wonderful living across from the beach and being able to walk over to it whenever you want, especially for me, as I am a beach bum at heart. However....aside from the coast itself, I HATE the surrounding area so much. It is dirty and grimy, and there is a serious problem with homelessness in Central Florida. Everywhere you go, there are homeless folks either pushing shopping carts or sleeping on the sidewalk. I feel truly sorry for them, and it is so discouraging to see these sights every day, sights that I am just not used to seeing.

Also, every time I go to Wal-Mart, I have random cars and vans pull up next to me in the parking lot trying to sell me illegal junk, and drugs and all kinds of shit. It is frustrating, and actually a little scary, because I have heard of situations like this in the area where people have been shot in these situations. It just isn't that great an area, I suppose.

Now, I mainly came here for the business, and the market I am in in pretty good, though nowhere near as busy as I had expected, and probably not as busy as the markets in TN. I have done pretty poorly in sales so far, and although the voice in my head is telling me to give it time, and that all businesses start out slow and build up in time, I frankly don't even know if I want to be here now. Even if sales picked up, I am so confused, I miss being near my family and those I love. I miss TN in general, and all the things I loved about living there.

Little things, you know? Going to the mexican restaurant on the weekend, where everybody knew everybody else, going to my aunt's house, seeing my niece and nephew. I am pretty homesick. I just honestly don't like it here as much as I thought. There are some nice things about being here, like the beach, but I am not sure that they are enough to justify the reasons to stay.

I can afford to move back to TN if I choose to, though things will be a bit tight for awhile, but they can't be as bad as they are now. My living expenses have skyrocketed since I moved here, and my income has nearly dropped in half. That is not what I expected, but like I said, business sucks.

I have tried to find a regular job to even things out, but literally NO ONE is hiring here. I have tried retail and restaurants, and everybody is staffed. Besides wages are pitiful here to begin with. And I didn't move here to work for someone else.

My exgirlfriend's dad, who I have always been pretty close with, has offered me a job with his painting company for about 30k a year, plus of course, I can always go back to my old job managing the tshirt shop. Either way I would be happy, but I wouldn't be in business for myself, which I really wanted.

Right now, I am considering moving back and starting college in the fall. I have always postponed plans for college because I wanted to own my own business, which I still do, but I am afraid of living my entire life trying to get low paying jobs, and living paycheck to paycheck. I want to be comfortable and successful. Right now, it is nearly impossible to survive off a small business. I know things will turn around eventually, but it is pretty bad.

Plus with a college education, I am almost guaranteed to have a GOOD job lined up for me, wherever I am.

I know, I have too much on my mind at once, and I am afraid of messing things up really bad, but I ma not happy here. Will I be, if business picks up? I don't know, because it isn't all about the money, and I am sure I can make as much there as I can here, even if it does mean working for someone else.

Sorry for such a long post guys, but I wanted to let it all out, and see if anyone has any advice for me, I would really appreciate it. I have worn myself thin worrying over it, and I could use a second point of view.

Thanks.

 

did you reread everything you wrote? cause i think you know the answer already....

you just needed to type everything out and look at it on the screen.....

 

Go back home and start a buisness, and if it takes off good, then move back to the beach mon.

 

Sounds like you should head back home and think about college or get your business going there again

No use being in a place you don't like

I left home for many years, and its been nice being back in my community and near my family and getting to see my little nephews grow. Not saying i want to stay here forever necessarily, but it was the best thing for me to do...I stuck it out for a long time and started to lose who I was a bit in a sea of strangeness

 

don't make yourself nuts trying to stay somewhere you're not happy..

you'll live anywhere you go.


:egypt:

 

unless he got shot.


But honestly, why not start your own company where you used to reside?

That's about the best thing you can do now.

 

Thanks everyone. I mean Tennessee wasn't perfect either, but it was HOME. I didn't leave because I hated it there, only because I wanted to better myself. I had planned on opening a business for years, and at the very least, now I know that I can, and that I am ready for it. That becomes a problem as well, actually, because if I was really motivated to stay here, I know I can boost my sales, but that probably wouldn't change my view of the area, or make me stop missing Tn, either.

The market that I opened my shop in is pretty busy trafficwise. The only trouble is my shop is geared toward pretty much anyone between their teens and mid-thirties. Most of the locals that frequent the market are retired and over 65. I can adjust to that, and cater to them, and increase my business in the process, but I don't know if I would be happy even if I did. I would be happy with the business, but not with anything else.

I am afraid the people who watched me go through the entire process of opening and getting ready for the move will think poorly of me now, or see me as a failure, although I don't see it the same way. To me, at least I know I tried. I had guts and took a risk, where alot of people would hem and haw over it and never take action. I know that you don't get anywhere in life without venturing out into the unknown every once in awhile.

I will still be successful whatever I do, I know it. See, if I go back there, I can continue my business but still work one of those other jobs, so I can continue to grow the business, but actually be secure enough not to worry if I have a slow month. If things remain the way they are here, I will be out of money in no time. And I am young so I have very little options for obtaining credit. I have two credit cards at the moment, one is secured, and the other is just a Home Depot card. They help a bit, but I don't have alot of options here for borrowing if I need the cash.

In TN however, I have existing accounts with two different credit agencies that I can extend if necessary. One of them even called me today to offer me more money.

Here's what I am worried about most of all: IF I move back, will I end up regretting that as well, and wondering if I gave it ENOUGH of a chance, or will I be content to know that I did try in the first place?

 

um,, didnt you know daytona beach was a shit hole? seems like ya would have already known that before ya went down there..

as far as your business bein slow,if it has to do with tourism,that season hasnt even started yet..

i dunno sounds like ya jumped into somethin whithout thinking about it an now ya wanna jump right back out of it before ya have even given it a chance..

that bein said,,daytona beach is a shit hole,always has been. ya know that old dead song?
"Tennessee Tennessee aint no place id rather be"

cut your losses an get outta that shit hole...

 

couldn't have said it better myself.....

 

I know what you mean about what other people will think about moving back. I was sitting in my tiny apartment in Los Angeles a few days before I left and started yahoo mapping where others I grew up/went to school with were living...all over the place..and thinking how boring and failure like it seemed moving back.

But once i got back here I realized I could make more of an impact here and actually help make things better, and for some reason this area started a major upturn around that same time, and it hasn't stopped. Not to say I don't sometimes dream of being elsewhere, but i knew I have become part of a community here that I would not have stumbled upon where I was.

I was a bit older than you when I returned home, and I needed to get on the right track in several ways, musically, career wise, health wise, and it was clear to see immediately that it was the right decision.

If you go back, you'll be contemplative, you will settle back in, but you are not stuck there. Whenever you decide to leave again, you will likely make sure its to a place you enjoy.

Either way you are going to be fine, but it sounds from your writing that you are ready to be at home for a while

 

I actually did give it alot of thought before moving here. And I was warned about how the area was, but for every person that told me it was shit, another told me it was paradise, so I opted to make my own call. I now have done that.

As far as the season thing goes, if I was on the beach (the store, I mean) then no, the season wold still be way off. Where my shop is though, business is almost year round, and February is actually one of the busiest months of the year. The races are starting this week, and bike week is a couple weeks away as well, so it will be very busy very soon.

I was worried that I may not be giving things enough of a chance, but like I said, it's not the business I am giving up on, it's the area realy. I could fight it out at the shop and make it big someday, but I would not be happy living here, I don't believe.

Thank you for your input, I do appreciate it. And yes, Daytona is a shithole. Have you been here yourself, or are you speaking from what you've heard?

 

OHHHH yeah ive been to daytona MANY times ,many different ways,as a tourist,as a bum,working..

i guess first time i went i was probably 10. nothings really changed there in all that time. ill never go back to florida period. well there would have to be a damn good reason,90% of that state is a shithole...

good luck in your quest.

 

It is not what I expected. I heard plenty of negatives before moving here, but I wanted to create my own opinion. And now, my opinion is spot on with yours. Sorry to hear about your experiences here as well, I can say I don't know how anyone would be truly happy here. I can only imagine the upper middle class being able to live comfortably here, and frankly, if I was upper middle, I would live somewhere much nicer, there are beaches in other states. Fuck Florida.

 

to put it succinctly,

florida can suck my cock...i have never had a desire to go to that place...i have close friends who moved to panama city over a year ago...and they specifically said...daytona sucks a donkeys left nut...

 

Can I be honest? I would rather live in Southern California. But FL is closer to TN, and the business seemed like it would do good here. Cal has it's problems, but nothing like Florida does. It truly is America's dickhandle.

 

Could you go to school and have a mini business meanwhile?

 

Yea Cait, actually if I moved back to TN and did both, the business would at least cover my books and fees so yeah, it would help alot. And of course, if I was going to go to school I would need to move back to TN because I have lived there forever, and if I went to school here, I would probably have to pay out of state tuition. You generally have to live in a state at least two years to avoid the out of state fee.

 

Go home. Go back to school.

 

I vote for that option than babe.

 

Thanks Cait.