When Your Business Partner Has a "If Sh*t Hits The Fan" Spreadsheet
Plus Our Next Big Move
Deacon here, and I just learned something about Travis that I can't stop thinking about.
Did you know he maintains an actual spreadsheet called "If Sh*t Hits The Fan" that calculates exactly how many years he could live in a camper if everything went sideways? (It's 45 years, apparently.)
This revelation came during our first-ever PPC Fun House event, where we gathered 20+ e-commerce entrepreneurs at Travis's home. While the official agenda included masterminding and growth strategies, the real gold emerged in our candid conversations about fear, defense, and playing it safe.
The Defense Mode Paradox
Here's what struck me: Almost every business owner in the room (many with 7-figure brands) seemed oddly... gloomy. Despite achieving what others dream of, they were stuck in what Travis calls "defense mode" – protecting what they'd built rather than expanding it.
Sound familiar?
We noticed this same pattern in our approach to Dr. Barry's and our next acquisition. When we started discussing a potential $1.5M EBITDA brand (roughly a $6M purchase), Travis got visibly uncomfortable. The monthly loan would jump from $7,300 to $73,000 – a level that triggered memories of a previous near-bankruptcy experience.
That would put a serious dent in that “If Sh*t Hits The Fan” calculation.
Playing Offense Again
Instead of letting fear dictate our path, we're taking three specific actions:
We're launching a new Dr. Barry's product that already has 4.8-star reviews from previous listings
Travis is deploying his "Perpetual Sales Machine" strategy (a systematic approach to building off-Amazon traffic that converts on Amazon)
We're actively seeking our next acquisition in the $200K-$1M profit range – large enough to matter but small enough to sleep at night
This middle path feels right for us now – neither playing too safe nor risking everything.
What about you? Are you playing defense when you should be on offense? Or vice versa? I'd love to hear where you are in this journey.
Until next time,
Deacon
P.S. Business is hard and often lonely. Let’s connect in the SubStack chat! It’s one of the things we love about this platform.
