In yesterday's blog post, called If Your Dream is to Open a Boutique, Read These 6 Things First I left you with a cliffhanger…the question was "Do I regret it?"

I didn’t plan to end the article in that manner but my quickly-typing fingertips came to a halt. My mind stopped. I began to wonder…. “Do I? Looking back, would I do it all over again” So I had to think…

Without having a way to know what the future would have held if I would have chosen a different route, I have come to believe the following 3 things to be true:

1. FACT: I would be substantially wealthier without the extreme costs that go into operating a physical location.

2. However, I genuinely feel I gained a lot of insight into life by going through such a long journey, mostly on my own but also with the help of some really amazing supporters. I learned that I can do damn near ANYTHING on my own. I gained a massive level of respect for all public businesses. I also realized that no matter what you do, stuff will go wrong, so learning to master your emotions is a key to life.

3. The time I sacrificed with my loved ones, to have a physical location… I don’t think it was worth it. Now that I am getting older, I have gained the wisdom that TIME, not money, is the most precious asset in the world because no matter how rich you are, you can never buy more time. And none of us know when our ticket will be drawn and our time will be done. You ever watch the reality show on Netflix called “Alone”?; it’s interesting because every contestant comes to the conclusion that even though the prize of a half-million-dollars is amazing, “how much is the time I’m missing with my family worth?” - yep. I had that same thought many times, including during when I missed my uncles funeral, my grandmas funeral, weddings, baby showers, not being able to volunteer to chaperone my sons school field trips… times you can never get back.

In closing, I can honestly say, I much prefer selling online better. I still work my 80 hour weeks. I still never take a day off, even when I’m on vacation but I have the ability to “clock out” for a little while and go to the beach, see friends or watch a movie with the kids. So now to answer the question I started off with, “Do I regret it” - No. Would I do it all the same way all over again if given the opportunity? No. If my 40-year-old-self could tell my 28-year-old-self a piece of advice, I would say to focus on the internet business. Instead of getting a physical store, get a bigger warehouse. I would let myself know that I will end up running myself into the ground physically and mentally trying to own two totally different businesses that sell merchandise through different methods. My wiser self would tell my younger self that having a business open 24 hours a day to the entire world is always going to make more money than a business open only 10 hours a day to a local community.

-And that is my answer :)