October 5, 2025 – Daily Recap

Today was one of those “stuck behind the screen” kind of days. No jobs on the calendar, just me and my computer — overthinking, overanalyzing, and probably overdoing it on things that won’t move the needle much. But that’s small business life sometimes — you convince yourself you’re optimizing when you’re really just spiraling through spreadsheets.

The Rent Reality Check

Midday, I took a break from my rabbit hole and checked out a warehouse for rent/sale in an area I really like. My current landlord and I have a great relationship — genuinely — but he’s got to raise rent to keep up with his margins. And I can’t go any higher without choking out my profit potential.

That’s business, though. Sometimes you hit a point where the numbers stop cooperating, and it’s on you to start preparing for the next move. So that’s where I’m at — exploring options, not panicking, just planning.

The Temptation to Own

I’m genuinely fighting the urge to jump into warehouse real estate. This feeling is hard to deal with — like somebody’s got my future in their hands. I completely understand the argument for why renting is the standard. But like my wife tells me, “You can’t tell me how to feel.” Ha!

It actually reminds me of when we first moved to Atlanta. I had every intention of renting for at least a year since we didn’t know the area. But after seeing those rental rates, I said, “Ohh Hell Nah,” and pushed us into buying a house. It was risky for sure — thankfully it’s a decision that worked out. Otherwise, I’d be in real trouble right now.

Crunching the Numbers

Looking back at my year-to-date, rent makes up almost 14% of revenue, and that’s factoring in my best months. That’s... fine, for now. But long term? Not sustainable. And with the slower months creeping in, an increase would just crush us.

According to the American Rental Association (ARA), well-performing operators keep “facility” and “occupancy” costs around 6–8%. So the real question is — are we a well-performing operator? (insert nervous laugh here).

If you’re in the business, I’d genuinely love to know: what’s your rent-to-revenue ratio? Hit reply and tell me what’s working for you. I think a lot of us in this industry are facing the same math problem.

Until next time
P.S. Don’t miss out on future updates! Subscribe to the newsletter to stay in the loop.

Your boy is an influencer now 👀
If you're running an event rental biz and want your life to make sense:
👉 https://refer.goodshuffle.com/RamonLuna

Get $100 off your first year of Goodshuffle Pro. I get a small kickback and get to keep pretending I’m a tech-savvy small biz influencer. 😂 Win-win.

Small Biz Hack 💳
If you’re in growth mode and need some breathing room for big purchases, check this out: The Amex Blue Business Plus card has 12 months of 0% APR and comes with a 15k Membership Rewards bonus if you hit the spend threshold. Perfect for when you’ve got gear to buy but don’t want the financial sting all at once.
👉 https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/bluebusinessplus-credit-card?ref=RAMONLn23D&XLINK=MYCP

Of course, if you find a better deal for this or any other card, go with that — I’m just sharing my referral code in case it’s useful.