BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

Fox Trot 5K

I signed up to run the Fox Trot 5K race at Sly Fox.  Should be a good time.  I forget if I said that already.  I think I might have.  It's been a long week at work and I'm dragging.  Tomorrow is graduation at work... The worst day of the year.

Blah.  The parents always make a stink.  Every parent wants to be front row center for their kids graduation.

Which is understandable.

Let's see... Oh, so, I went to yoga tonight after work and then when I got home, I had a phone call from my bother while I was eating dinner to check my email.  Looks like we're getting more "stuff" from California coming our way.

When I say "stuff"... That's my codeword for something specific that you can use to exchange for goods and services.

My coworker today told me that I'm not supposed to talk about money.

So... I'll just call it stuff instead.

Anyways... More stuff.  Yep.  We're being told we should be getting it next week.  Or the week after that.

Speaking of stuff... Today I actually bought some shares in a company that loans out stuff to companies so they can then use that stuff to increase the amount of assets they own and in turn make more stuff from their customers... okay, let me explain...

It's kind of like leveraging capital to increase your returns.

Still not making sense?  Okay... so, you probably work at a company.  And that company has revenues... Sales.  They either sell a good, or provide a service.  Or maybe both.

Then the money they get from that goes to pay bills, and anything leftover is profit...

There's more to it than that... But... Let's just say the company makes money from selling something.  And let's say they want to sell MORE of that something because the people have spoken and said they really like the something that is being sold.

However... You can't just create MORE out of thin air.  Sometimes... You need to buy another factory or something to make MORE of that something...

This is where a BDC comes in.  It stands for business development company.  They will loan money to a company, in return for interest on that loan.  If you run a business and you have a strong demand from customers... You can then borrow money to buy more equipment to make more of the product you make faster to then increase your customer base even more.

So, you can make more stuff.

Leveraging capital gets a faster rate of growth than just using the cash you have on the books...

It's an everyday business thing.

There's a lot to it.  Just know that I decided to invest in a company that loans out capital to other companies.

If you want to know more... Listen to this podcast.

Anyways, so now I'm a shareholder of this one company that loans "stuff" out to other companies in exchange for more "stuff" later on down the road.

Or, interest on the "stuff" they loaned out.  Companies borrow money just like people do.

I mean, stuff.  They borrow stuff.

So, yeah... My "hedge fund" started a small position in that company today.

Anyways... SO, oh... yes, I'm about to get more "stuff" from Cali.

My plan is to use that to continue to increase my investment base... But also, I'm going to buy some actual stuff... I was thinking that I will use it to upgrade my recording gear.

I want to get a new input box.  I also want to upgrade my recording software to the latest and greatest versions.

Some other things I think I might purchase are some new shoes for this upcoming race.  My shoes are definitely wearing thin.

So, yeah... I'm going to invest some, and then spend a little.  I need to buy that new fridge... And washer and dryer.

My brother is going to do the same.  He's going to invest like half of this distribution and then use the other half as play... He said he wants to buy a "play" car.  I'm surprised his wife okayed that.  Although... Maybe he didn't tell her about it yet.

I told him he should invest in a food truck.  He doesn't seem keen on the idea.

I should buy a food truck.  I'll just drive it around.  It can be my wheels.

Show up to a food truck festival in a food truck.

Maybe not so much.

Well, anyways, there will be more to come in the future... So, technically, it could all just be play money.... "stuff".

Sorry, I know... I'm not supposed to talk about money... according to my coworker.

I just won't talk about money around him.  Shhhhh, don't tell him I'm still going to talk about money.  He doesn't have to know.

Okay, so... As I was saying...

My goals right now are as follows:

1. Setup a home office to run things out of, and by things I mean really setup shop.  Really get serious about investing and music making and whatever other things I want to do with my life.
2. Continue to build my "hedge fund" portfolio as a core where all of my business activities will run out of... This will provide capital for myself... Let's say I want to go get head shots for acting?  Or take more acting classes?  I can use my investment income to do that.  Let's say I want to buy a new guitar, or a drum set... I can use this investment portfolio capital to make investments in myself.
3. Make more music.
4. Finish my first book, and then ALL the books I've started.
5. Maintain the house and spruce things up to add value to the house for when I go to sell it.  Need a new fridge.  Maybe install a fire pit, or a hot tub out back?  Probably not.  New washer and dryer and fridge for sure.
6. Start my company.  Actually incorporate it and create it for real.  Buy a surf board to hang on the wall in my office.  Surf View Inc.  Take up surfing lessons.  Or whatever.  Get inspired.  Make business cards.
7. Eventually go full time running my company that deals with my investments, music, books, and other creative endeavors.  I guess eventually in the longer term... I'll probably end up leaving my job to run Surf View Inc. full time.  I mean, I like my job... But the thought of being an entrepreneur and really doing big things with all my creative ideas... Hey, I can always work IT at a company or college.  But you only get one chance to really take life by the horns and do something great.  Or end up failing miserably and then work another 9-5 job again.  But, like I said... Jobs are always there.  Anyways, Surf View is a side thing at the moment right now, so I'm not anywhere close to taking it full time.  Right now I'm just making music, posting it online, and buying small amounts of shares in publicly traded stocks, and working on my book.  Really, that's pretty much all I'm doing right now.
8. Drink some beer and wine along the way and run a 5K.  Because, you gotta have a little fun!

I think that's a good start.

For now, I'm gonna go shoe shopping and run this 5K.

Anyways so... That's the latest news.

Oh, and at the 5K they have food trucks and bands after the run.  Also the 5K itself is to raise money for charity.

So, what's not to like?  I'm excited for the run, the beer, the food trucks, and the tunes.

Well, I'm gonna get to sleep.  Gotta be at work super early tomorrow morning!