Livin' La Vida Luna y Luca
These two are stuck to each other like bubblegum. The fun ends when you hear a loud bang, a silent pause, and then LOTS of crying.
Patel Motel Cartel
One of my tweets went viral last week: ~185K views and 150 comments.
There's minimal little overlap between readers of the newsletter and followers on X so I wanted to share it here as well.
Here's the post in plain text:
-- start tweet --
My parents are card-carrying members of the Patel Motel Cartel.
I spent >half my childhood living at the motel (not in a room, but in an apartment above the office)
In the early days, our rooms catered to all fetishes:
- Heart-Shaped Jacuzzis
- Water Beds
- Mirror Rooms (Literally every wall)
- Red Rooms (everything from the carpet to bed sheets were red)
From 1985 - 1998, our business thrived on rooms by the hour.
I'm pretty sure my first words were: "Overnight or Short Stay?"
Then in 2000, we became a hotbed for migrant workers. Mostly people from Guatemala and Honduras. Although, everyone in town referred to us as the "Mexican Motel".
These guests worked hard but partied harder. Every morning was a different adventure: someone got drunk and kicked down a door or broke a window.
We didn't mind the maintenance, because they paid cash multiple weeks in advance.
Then the rich folk started to complain. Our property became the eyesore of our upper-middle-class town. No one liked seeing 45 Latinos standing on the side of the highway waiting to be picked up for a day's work at 8am every morning.
A town official may or may not have said the words "eminent domain" within earshot of my parents during an annual inspection.
My immigrant dad was shook to his core and took immediate action. No one was taking his 4th child, I mean business, away from him.
In ~2005 we engaged with Wyndham Franchising and spent close to ~$1M renovating the property. My dad GC'd the whole thing with the help of my cousin. I was still in High School at the time, but I spent an entire summer doing demo work. Brutal.
Now my parents are in their early 70s and they're ready to tap. The past decade has been on cruise control. We have a decent team in place and my dad mainly goes every day out of habit. Count up the deposit, drink some tea, micro-manage his employees, and then head out.
As the only son in this Gujarati family, they're relying on me to take over.
Selling is not an option. They'd rather die (I'm not being facetious).
The problem with me taking over is... I'm this🫰 frkn close to hitting my stride as an SFR developer.
Also, I have v little to no desire to operate a motel. I saw what it takes 1st hand, and I'm honestly just not willing to put in that level of commitment at this stage of my life.
I wish they'd sell and rest on their laurels, but again... they prefer resting permanently over selling.
So I'm at a crossroads.
My theme for 2025 is "Kill The Boy To Become The Man" and solving this problem (or choosing to stay out of it) is at the crux of it.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do, but the act of simply writing this out (& sharing it with you) was therapeutic enough for today.
If you have any wisdom to share, I'd love to hear it.
-- end tweet --
The 150 comments were all over the place. Let's distill them into a few categories.
The Nike Gods
Many people advised me to "Just Do It". Stop complaining, throw caution to the wind, run through a brick wall to get it done.
The Delegate & Elevate Crowd
Others suggested hiring a general manager to run the day-to-day.
Simple in theory, difficult in practice. As many small business owners know, you can't just hand the keys over to a new driver, fall asleep in the passenger seat, and expect smooth sailing. Leading a team of people would be a brand new skill set for me and the learning curve is steep.
Can I do it? Maybe. But it's hard enough to do one thing really well (develop SFR), it's almost impossible to do two things well.
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Some people thought I was too nice to run it well. I don't disagree.
Carve Your Own Path
A few people suggested I carve my own path to the extent of risking my relationship with my parents. Less than zero chance I'm doing that.
Do Both!
"If Elon can do it, so can you!" Is this really how people think? LOL
Anecdotal Evidence
A few people shared their stories with me, which I appreciate.
The Hatin' Racists
I mean... we gotta shine a light on these cockroaches, right? Fk em.
I still don't have much clarity on what my next steps are. If I allowed other people to decide for me, it would look something like this: take over, install a new GM, sell after parents pass.
That path just doesn't speak to me. I'm not one to keep things status quo. I prefer to shake things up.
It's almost like I'm waiting to be struck by lightning. I need to be able to envision an end goal and then plan out an exciting path to get me there. Once I see a big enough carrot, I can endure any stick.
✌️
What I'm Working On...
