This is going to have nothing to do with survivalism, suburban survival, or urban survival, unless you are talking about money, and we might. I am in sales, started a new job about 16 months ago, and my income basically relies on much of what I sell. To say the company I work for is fragmented internally is an understatement. It is hard to get things done, and makes it hard for me to sell my products and services.
To make a long story short, I have been working on a massive sale over the last 15 months. It is so large the CEO of the company, has basically said, work on this pretty much as your only project until you get the sale. Well, I did. The downside, is that I just brought in the largest sale of my career (7 figures). However, in working on only one sale for the past 15/16 months, I have not been able to supplement my income with commissions. Coincidentally, my money situation has slowly been getting tighter, and tighter, and tighter. It seems both the sale and my financial situation have come to a head at about the same time. The downside, I am traveling this week, my reimbursement check(s) have not come from my past business travels, and money is less than tight, it is near non-existent. Not sure how I am going to get through this week, on the road, but I am a little worried, since my company has not responded to my requests to expedite my reimbursements.
I’m not too sure why I am writing this, other than I think I need to vent, and for the first time in a long time I am worried about not having the funds to do my job.
I won’t get into why my savings has dwindled over the past couple of years. That is a completely different story and would be much better told in person than via the blog. But let me just say, it leaves some speachless, and others saying, “oh…”
I despise being in this position. I despise anyone being in this position, and promised myself I would not let myself get here again, yet here I am. You might be asking, “what about this large sale you just made? Didn’t you make any money?” Yes, yes I did. However, the billing does not start until next year, and I do not earn my commissions until then… Ouch. Sort of squelches being happy about reaching your goals, personal, professional, or achieving the company goals. All I feel like saying is, whatever.
I don’t say this for sympathy, but more for self evaluation of where I need to go going forward. In hindsight, working on the one deal only was a mistake. On the flip side, it allowed me to focus. Live and learn I guess. Take a lesson, never depend on one thing for the result you are looking to achieve… It may bite you before you get to where you are going.
That sucks. Hang in there and still know that you did a good job! Sounds like your company should be doing a little more to take care of you considering what you just did for them. Not cool leaving someone out to dry like that.
Great site Dude. One of the most helpful I’ve run across and I’ve been reading/referring to it regularly for a couple of months.
I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey and staying out of debt and all, but that is exactly why we keep three credit cards totaling about $25K of credit even though we never use them. I start to sh– myself if I get less than three month’s expenses in savings so we’re pretty responsible, but you just never know what the future is going to hold or if you might need something to get you through a jam.
Kind of surprised your company isn’t helping you out more. If one of my sales guys was working on a deal that important to my company, I probably would have given him quarterly bonuses along the way to make sure he wasn’t sacrificing too much. I might give him less upside on the deal but make sure he wasn’t taking too much personal risk along the way. But that’s me and I own a smaller company than yours might be.
Hope it works out. Regardless, keep up the good work around here.
@Alex and @Nobody — Thanks for the kind words. Everything has come to a head all at once, that is all… I have been working through some debt, and knew this day was going to come, but was hoping it was not going to happen during a seven day business trip. It certainly grounds you, that is for sure.
Again, thanks for the kind words, and Alex, glad you like the blog!
That’s really stinks to not have funds to tied you over between commissions. I am surprised your employer won’t give you a “draw” account, considering you made them this huge sale. They lose nothing, since any amounts withdrawn will count against the future check. I am sorry you are going through this rough patch; hang in there and take care.
Thanks. Today i look back t the post and ask myself why i was venting… I guess sometimes you need to release the stress…
Commission based living is tough.
Hang in.