Sunday, July 27, 2008

.....When a Plan Comes Together

That is what Hannibal from the A-Team used to say all the time. He loves it when a plan comes together. You have to admit, that it is nice when you are busting-ass and you start to see that you are winning more then you are losing. That takes time, vision and commitment. If it was easy we would all be rich.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm far from rich but I have layed all the ground work including final financing of all of my current projects.


From this point on it should be smooth sailing. Smooth is relative. With an average of 20 waking hours per day, I have 140 hrs. / per week which to keep my endeavors running smooth. I would estimate I am literally working or traveling to work 120 of those hours.

How long can I keep this up? As long as I need to. I have a vision of how my life will be and will not stop until that vision is fully realized. In my world, In my mind there is winning and losing. Anything short of my goal and I have lost; and Guess What...Losing is not an option.


MJL

Sunday, July 20, 2008

THE GUMBALL KING LIVES!!

I am trying to live up to the name as “ The Buble Gum King”.

Just a quick update on the Altoid machines….since taken over I had one machine that was located in Detroit. Someone had the audacity to smash the machine open and grap a handful of @#$% quarters.

The most they could have gotten away with, if they got every quarter in the entire machine is $100.00. However they probably got way less. I was thinking, "Maybe the persons clothes were stuck in the Laundromat dryer and he needed a quarter" or..... "Maybe he was at the coin carwash trying to vacuum his car and the machine stopped half way through". I’ve been there. I felt like busting a few machines myself.

Shout out to the Candy Machine Buster!!
I feel your pain Brotha!!



REAL TALK: THIS GUY LIVES IN THE AREA AND GOT CAUHT STEALING MACHINES AND MONEY. CLICK THE PHOTO FOR THE STORY. THEY SAID HE'S BEEN HITTING ALOT OF MACHINES. IT COULD HAVE BEEN HIM.



Needless to say, we pulled the machine out of that joint and repaired it for $36. A quick call to the parts place (the number is on a sticker affixed to the machine) and the parts arrived in the mail. That machine is still not located anywhere, so it’s not making any money right now.

The other machines are doing well. What’s well?


Let's look at the numbers shall we:
I have one machine that does about $100 every 8 weeks ($12.5 per week)
3 machines that do $100 every 16 weeks. (6.25 per week) X 3 = 18.75
So, on average the machines earn approximately $31.25 or $125 per month.

Every 16 weeks or every $500 I have to collect money. $340 of that gets pocketed and $160 goes to buy more gum. It takes me approximately 2 hrs. to visit the machines and refill; that comes down to

$170.00 / hr. or $42.50 / Month


Not Bad at all. Not to mention all the Altoid Gum a guy could want. (Don't Worry it's Sugarless)


Holla At your Boy

-MJL

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Back from Brazil - Super Charged Again

Well I’m back from Brazil; I have actually been back for awhile. I had to get some really important things straightened out. I’m not sure if the right decisions were made; but I've learned sometimes a decision is needed and the results just need to be managed.

Businesses often fail not because right or wrong decisions are made but because the decisions made are mis-managed. That is the one thing that I won’t ever be accused of; mis-management.

As I have said before but will try again, I will try to dedicate more time to my site. By now I have alienated my few faithful readers and will probably have to gain a new list of followers. More importantly this blog will serve as a chronicle of my struggles to the Forbes 400; it's more for me then anyone else. Ya dig!

I'll holla sooner then later.

Here are some pics from Brazil: