Morning,
I wanted to share some honest lessons from the businesses I’ve worked on… what worked, what didn’t, and the stuff I wish someone shared with me sooner.
1. 27-Cars on Turo. Don’t Do That.
Turo was my hustle play a few years back while working my W2.
I saw the math. I figured: get some cool cars, list them smart, and make extra cash. So we went from 1 car to 27 in less than 3 months.
That’s good though… right?
It was chaos. It scaled too fast.
Took on too much debt. Didn’t fully account for depreciation. Underestimated maintenance. Overestimated profit margins.
And I was on call 24/7. Speeding tickets. Drug and human trafficking. Police reports. You name it, I dealt with it.
It wasn’t passive at all.Margins shrank and I realized I had built myself into another job, this one with more liabilities.
After 8 months and 20 hour days, I sold everything and walked away. If I ever get back into it, I’ll cap it at 2–3 high-performing cars. No more.
Lesson: Don’t over leverage into unproven or unstable markets. Turo felt like early Airbnb, exciting but volatile. And we’ve all seen what happens when people overextend themselves on trends.
1. The Real Estate Bug. It’s Infectious.
I co-bought two 1962 homes in North Phoenix thinking it’d be a quick flip…light reno, back on the market in 6 months, easy six-figure profit.
That was the plan.
Here’s what actually happened:
The houses needed way more work than expected. Contractors flaked. Material costs spiked. Timelines dragged. And the resale margin I projected? Gone, unless we poured in even more cash.
Biggest mistake: I didn’t do enough due diligence on what it would take to get these properties sold at $150K–$200K above purchase.
The upside? We’ve had them rented out for two years, and they’ve at least paid for themselves (not taking repairs / maintenance into account). But we’re looking to sell and (hopefully) break even or make a small profit in the next 12 months.
In the meantime, over $150K has been tied up… money I could’ve used to grow current projects that are actually working.
Lesson: If you're not buying with serious margin, flipping single-family homes isn’t worth the time, stress, or capital, especially if you're only doing one or two. The real gains in residential real estate come with scale.
3. Slow Down and Do it Right
When I bought Novel Ice Cream, I had a simple plan: grow fast, delegate smart, and keep building other businesses at the same time.
How hard could it be?
After all, it was a great brand with a loyal following and a killer product. I had some wins under my belt. I figured I’d scale quickly, stack cash, and move on.
I assumed I could run multiple businesses at once. What I didn’t realize is that Novel needed me. Not just at the top, but inside the day-to-day operations, systems, hiring, training, leadership, culture.
We scaled too fast in 2024. Opened too much, too soon. From the outside it looked like momentum.
The brand was growing. But profitability sank.
It strained our cash flow. It exhausted my team. It diluted our standard. And we started feeling it; turnover, inconsistency, frustration, etc.
I had to stop pretending this as another passive business.
So I made a shift…
I invested in better people. Hired strong shop managers. Built real systems. Focused on training, communication, and culture.
We’re building the right way.
The hardest part wasn’t the strategy. It was slowing down, setting the tone, and leading, not just managing.
Lesson: Building a great brand takes real time, leadership, and presence… you have to be in the weeds until you’ve done the work to remove yourself from the day-to-day.
4. Building Two Brands at Once. One Had to Die.
Remix Coffee, the coffee and bagel shop I opened last year.
It was supposed to be my second hit. A companion brand that could ride Novel’s momentum, tap into our existing customer base, and run on the same backend.
Instead, it nearly tanked both businesses.
I was splitting time between two retail operations. Trying to juggle staffing, inventory, and marketing for both. Using Novel’s cash flow to keep Remix afloat. Hoping it would somehow click.
Remix was slightly profitable, but that wasn’t enough. Not when it was draining focus, energy, and resources from a business that actually had traction.
So I shut it down.
It wasn’t a failure. But it wasn’t a win either. It was just okay.
And in business, “okay” is a slow death.
Sure, I could’ve fixed it. But the smarter move was to double down on Novel.
That decision paid off.
If you're thinking about starting a second business before the first one:
Works without you, and
Prints cash consistently
Please don’t.
Remix didn’t flop because the concept was bad. Frankly it was very good. It flopped because I stretched myself too thin without the infrastructure to support it.
Also, if you're starting something retail-heavy like coffee: don’t show up as a copycat. You either need a real edge or an killer marketing team. Don’t be vanilla.
Lesson: One thing done exceptionally well beats five things done halfway. Just focus.
That’s it. Hope this helps,
– Shawn
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This is gold and deserves one million likes
Love this bro. Been great seeing your growth and lessons over the past few years