Every month I have to fork over $2,000 to a cover a business’ expenses… and I can’t quit.

For the past four years or so, I’ve been seeing a huge amount of content about buying businesses; YouTube Shorts, Reels, books, podcasts, and more are devoted to instructing budding entrepreneurs on the how and why of small business acquisition. I learned as much as I thought I needed to learn and then, in my usual fashion, pulled the trigger.

Regrettably, in my naivety, I didn’t realize that the seller of the business would doll-up a crap sandwich and make it look like a Jimmy John’s #5. By fiddling with numbers, he made a business that was likely losing $1,000-5,000 per month seem like it was earning him about $60,000 per year (which I was happy to use partially as my own salary for quitting nursing as well as pay for some upgrades for the client-facing business). I read through the dull bank statements and spreadsheets that were provided and thought with my knowledge that I couldn’t be duped. I was wrong.

Worse yet, I made the blunder of buying a boring business that I knew next to nothing about. I had no business looking for that kind of business (type of business shall remain nameless until 2028) as I had never even visited that kind of business in my entire life, much less used it. Most of the big-name influencers that tell folks they should buy businesses mention that you should buy in a field you’re knowledgeable in. At times, I wish I would’ve listened. Regardless of the seller’s conduct, I do want to make it clear: the $2,000 of rent that my business can’t cover (and yes, I’m the personal guarantor — another huge mistake I made and the only reason I can’t quit the business without getting the pants sued off me) is due to my own ego and blunders I made along the way. And that $2,000/month doesn’t even begin to cover the amount of debt I owe my lenders for the purchase price.

Despite what I’ve said, I did mildly prepare for this business venture. I made the assumption that I may not be able to personally make money for an entire year, which in most circles, is a great financial runway. However, I didn’t account for the business’ expenses. Much like how I saved one year’s worth of personal expenses, before buying the business I should’ve had another 6-12 months’ worth of business expenses saved up as Idiot Insurance. While I entered the deal incredibly stable, the business immediately losing money very quickly took me onto my road of credit card debt and (likely) depression.

Before buying my next business (whether a small business or real estate) — and yes, I will be buying another — I’ll be sure to have not only a personal financial runway saved, but a business expense runway as well. Not having that dual runway got me caught with my pants down, and I’m confident that won’t happen again. I bought a belt made of hard lessons learned, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt (written about here) and strained personal relationships. Luckily, not all is lost!

Happily enough, being a nurse has its perks. First off, there’s good demand for skilled nurses. Secondly, travel nursing exists. I make anywhere between $2,400 and $3,000+ per week (after taxes) as a travel nurse and my expenses only increase mildly ($113-228 per week) to cover rent in both the state that I have the contract in and my tax home state (more on this in a future post). As a staff nurse in my home state, I could make around $1,342-1,760 per week. Even on the low range of traveling ($2,400) and high range of staff nursing ($1,760), there’s a $640 weekly gap, minus housing of (let’s do the expensive option) $228… netting me an extra $412 at least each week. May not sound like much, but that’s an extra $20,000 per year if I work 11 months of the year.

Not everyone can be a nurse or even a travel nurse. Even if you can be one, perhaps you shouldn’t be. It’s tough and, in my opinion, requires people who love others and are prepared to handle emergency situations with a calm head. Perhaps there’s another way to scale your income with a job position, company, or market change. Perhaps a side-hustle. Just don’t do what I did and get in a situation that makes it too easy to go into debt. I wouldn’t take it back, because I’ve learned some valuable lessons from this, but I wouldn’t wish it on my own worst enemy. And that includes you.

The business’ lease ends in September of 2028, and with it, my $2,000/month loss. Come to daddy! I intend to take that $2,000 ($24k per year) and turn it into time. I’ll start taking off an extra one to two months each year to spend that time back home with the family. Who knows, though? Perhaps by then priorities will shift and I’ll find something else to do with it. Or perhaps I’ll be retired.

25 months left.