So, summer is almost over. Jack and Elsa are in cross country. The pool is closed. Gutter guards are on. Tree limbs have been cut. Kids are in school. Laina interviewed for a flight attendant job.

My 3D printing business has been doing better than I imagined. I’m making contacts and selling stuff to other states. Mainly Dragons – people love the metallic dragons. I’m printing 24/7 now to have enough inventory for Smiles Day and Fall Fun Festival. I even went to St Louis on Sunday to buy another X1C to increase my throughput.

I’m kind of at an impasse right now though. I’m spending a lot of time (and money) trying to get inventory up that I’m neglecting others. It’s the blessing/curse of being a spectrum-y kind of guy: I am so in the Flow, so single-minded, so blinded by purpose….I jumped in the car and drove to St. Louis without any real thought or effort. It’s literally the Flow that I’ve read about (excellent book, BTW). With the printing business I’m learning so much. There was a steep learning curve, and when I figure out to do something (or how to do something better) it is a satisfying feeling. Its like when you’re a musician, and there’s a piece of music that you can’t play. But you practice it and practice it. Then you start feeling yourself getting better, and the fingers start moving on their own. It’s magical. This work speaks to both sides of my brain, the creative and the technical side. It’s something I can do with the kids. I look forward to going to shows to speak about my wares, probably speak way too much, to the point of concern. But I like people, and I like talking to people about the things I’m interested in. Otherwise I’m horrible at small talk.

The impasse is, that what I’m printing right now are basically impulse purchases. That means that I have to go to fairs and shows and festivals, to be present to hawk my stuff. I don’t really want to go to shows all the time because I would miss out on family time if they don’t go with me. But I feel like I have to plant my flag in my hometown and surrounding towns as THE 3D printing guy. Before, I had a made up competitor in my mind, someone else who was going around planting flags. It was a race against time against this imaginary competitor, to see who could establish themselves, because basically we can all print the same thing. So what is my competitive advantage? Do I compete on price? Quality? Quantity? Speed of delivery? Do I build up my brand name and use that as my leverage? Right now I’ve decided that I compete on Customer Service. Like, basically I have a customer service business. It just so happens that my service includes 3D printed items. But I’m out there, channeling my father and his love of selling his creations. My genetic code for the side-hustle has been activated. Back when I had my computer repair business I learned that I was actually in the customer care industry. People wanted their computer fixed but what they really wanted was for me to hold their hand, calm then down, reassure them that I can recover their photos or music, and that I would be around the next time they needed help.

Only now there’s a real competitor, someone who actually printed items that are present in my school district! A dagger – through my heart! My battlefield has been usurped. And the competitor is doing festivals close to my hometown. So I feel like I either have to double my efforts in this area, or else capitulate 100%.

So, I don’t want to be printing other people’s designs and spending my weekends doing shows forever. That’s not my end game here. I really want to design and sell my own creations, which would be the only competitive advantage I need. But to get to that point I need (ok, kinda want) to keep doing this grind, to see how much low-hanging money I can earn before everyone and their dogs have a 3D printer. I’ve had this MBA degree in my back pocket, just waiting for the opportunity to whip it out and use it. One of the reasons I got an MBA was to have a hedge at work; it increased my skill set if I ever got laid off. But since I got the degree my current job has only gotten better and better (knock on wood). So I never whipped out the MBA. But man, I’ve been wanting too. I thought that my business would be building guitars, like that would be my Flow, my all-encompassing passion. But I learned the hard way that I’m too old to be picking up a skill like woodworking, especially something that is so hands-on. Besides, there’s already someone in town that builds guitars. So I mentally capitulated that market to him (which was easy – his guitars are crap).

But 3D printing is 90% computer based, which is something I leaned into heavily. The other 10% is physically based (plastic), which I have learned much about. And I’m trying to go with what I know.

So I’ve unleashed this MBA mentality. Sure, right now I’m selling little animals and dragons, for a few dollars here and there. But I’ve learned a lot about getting an LLC, maintaining records, sales, customer psychology, and taxes. I’m ready to transition whenever a better opportunity comes along. Hell, maybe next year I’m not even printing anything. But I can guarantee that whatever it is I’m doing, it will be an organic transition from what I’m doing now. It’s like how I used to imagine my life: I’m driving 90mph in the fog. I don’t know where I’m going, and I probably have to turn a lot, but I’m getting there fast. I don’t imagine myself driving through fog anymore. I have clarity with my “real” job, knowing what track I’m on for retirement. The wife has been an awesome partner for this car ride. She’s a better navigator too.

So while I’ve unleashed the MBA/Spectrum beast within me, I also have to be mindful of my family. It used to be that I’d be in the basement, always in a rush, always needing just 5 more minutes to get a print started, and then I could go upstairs to be with everyone else. But the 5 minutes turned into 10 minutes, which turned into 30 minutes, etc. Then I would think, all I need to do is get this one thing done (or started), then I would be free for the night. Lately I realized that I could literally dedicate 100% of my life to this, that there will always be the next thing that has to be done, or the next part of the business that I could work on. So with this realization that my work could never end and could go on forever, I decided that there will come points where I just have to stop and go upstairs. I can’t let this consume my life. George Lucas said something to the effect that art is never finished, just abandoned. There will be times everyday when I have to abandon this work.

I just get this feeling, especially now, that every time I stop working, it’s step backwards I take from this business. It’s another step that a competitor will take in my direction. That’s probably not a healthy image to dwell one, but I’m trying to use it to keep myself sharp. Like Neil Peart said, A grain of sand irritates an oyster so much, that they form layers around it, which creates a beautiful pearl. Just don’t let it create an ulcer instead! Lol. I hate this competition but yet I love it. It keeps me focused. It drives me. It makes me better. Hopefully I’m making my competition better too. But it’s a no-brainer that my family is way more important. Maybe I have to get out of the business altogether and sell the assets and be done with it.