Shadwrick Vick - Lessons and Hobbies

I’m cleaning out old desktop files and reorganizing folders. Sometimes I hold onto old junk. Not because I like to store junk, but because I like to remember stupid mistakes. There is the one folder called “cubicles” from September of 2006. Everytime I see it - I keep it around because it was one of the dumbest purchases I’ve ever made.

What happened was my little web design firm started to grow after it’s first real year in 2005. So mid 2006 my wife said get out of the house and get your own office. (She didn’t care for clients coming to our house to meet me in my little basement office.) I started looking for space and found some ideal locations that had more then sufficient space for me. One such location had about 1300 sq feet. My entrepreneurial mind went to work. How cool would it be to have an atmosphere of web programmers, designers, etc. who could all collaborate with me - while offsetting my rent.  I posted ads on Craigslist and noticed that the response was fairly positive that I could rent out desks in that large space.

I started searching for furniture - specifically cubicles. I don’t know why. Probably my background in call centers pushed toward that move. I found a set of “used” Steelcase Cubicles in Texas. The ad read in mint condition with electrical outlets, overhead bins, the works. I was familiar with Steelcase and this particular model. After a few emails and phone calls, I pulled the trigger to have 15 cubicles shipped to Utah.

What was ridiculous was I didn’t have an office yet. I new client offered to give me some warehouse space in the back of the a outlet mall in Draper. The plan was a partnership that would allow us both to use the cubicles. I took him up on the offer and next thing I knew I was unloading a huge 18 wheeler truck with some kids from my church. We realized quickly that we couldn’t figure out easily how to setup these cubicles.

They weren’t in the best condition either - yet suitable. I ended up hiring a team of experts to set them up. It was kind of exciting to have 15 cubicles setup….well about 12. We used 3 cubicles for parts because we didn’t have enough components to make a full 15. The office was far from home and I found a deal for a better office downtown in SLC. The store owner saw I wasn’t using the cubicles and long story short, he ended up selling them and they dissappeared. So after significant cash in shipping, cubicles and labor - I learned a very valuable lesson - don’t buy what you don’t need.

Total tuition: $5,000.

Now I can comfortably delete that folder.