Day 2672-Everything Must Go
Well, it’s time. We opened Treasured Locks twenty years ago, this past April. Kayla was five, and Shayna was two years old. The idea was to make enough extra money that we could go out once or twice a month and pay for dinner and a babysitter. I had no idea that Treasured Locks would be our primary income for nearly two decades. This week, I announced that Treasured Locks will close soon.
Treasured Locks allowed Tywana and I to stay home with the girls through their formative years. I worked from my office on the first floor. Tywana’s office was on the lower level (basement), where she schooled the girls, packed orders, and supervised employees when we had them.
The business arc has been interesting, from packing a handful of orders weekly to making a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year and back to a handful of orders.
Tywana had to return to work full-time two years ago because our medical benefits costs were too high. As a result, I’ve had to pack orders and do everything else it takes to keep the business running. Since I’ve been coaching for three years, I find Treasured Locks distracting from what I’d prefer to focus on as I’m in my sixty-second year.
It’s tempting to think of closing the business as a failure. But, unfortunately, it never became what I started to envision a few years into it. It didn’t become a million-dollar-a-year business, even though it has done millions in revenue. It didn’t become a multi-generational business. But the girls both said they never wanted to run it.
As the words from “Everything Must Go” ran through my head over the last couple of weeks, I realized that the business had a life, like anything else. It was born, it peaked, and it’s run its life. It’s served us well. I always thought of Everything Must Go as selling off the inventory. It’s that. But, it’s more. Every thing must go. Everything born has its time to transition to the next thing.
It’s high time for a walk on the real side
Let’s admit the bastards beat us
I move to dissolve the corporation
In a pool of margaritas
So let’s switch off all the lights
Light up all the Luckies
Crankin’ up the afterglow
‘Cause we’re goin’ out of business
Everything must goTalk about your major pain and suffering
Now our self-esteem is shattered
Show the world a mighty hidey-ho face
As we go sliding down the ladder
It was sweet up at the top
‘Til that ill wind started blowing
Now it’s cozy down below
‘Cause we’re goin’ out of business
Everything must go
Steely Dan, “Everything Must Go”
