2024 Year End Blog

This past year has been the most stressful year of my life as a business owner. That being said I was well aware of this impending doom last January. I remember a specific moment while speaking to Malcolm about the possible shop expansion, and telling him that if we do NOT do this expansion that 2024 will be pretty chill and could be a really fun year filled with more drifting than anything else. But if we DID decide to go through with the expansion (from 2500sqft to a massive 10,000sqft), that it would be the most stressful year of my life but could potentially set us up for a few years to come with more than enough space and a few very important features I’ve always wanted this business to have. This was the biggest leap of faith I have ever taken in my life as far as business is concerned, and I would have never been able to do it without the team I'm surrounded with here at Faction Motorsports.

The year started off with a month of consideration, with the final signing of our new lease February 1st. The first thing to get accomplished was the podcast studio, because we could not move forward with tearing down the old office before we had some place to record our weekly podcasts. As per usual, I spared no expense and built what I would consider our dream podcast studio with cameras wired through the walls and a nice large table with built in mic stands to converse with conformably. I did not add more than 4 mics for technical reasons but also due to the fact that more than 4 people during a podcast usually causes too much noise and ruins the listening experience from what I’ve seen. The studio is an ever growing part of the shop but the foundation was laid very early this year and it's one of my personal favorite spaces in the shop. It was also technically the first accomplishment of our year.

What happens next is all really a blur to me at this point. From drawing up a whole floor plan and having it mapped out by an architect, permits, demo, getting the floors epoxied, having a new bathroom built, tearing out the drop ceiling to go with an open ceiling in the waiting/showroom, installing all of the lifts and machines, to having counters made, windows installed, and LOTS of painting. I'm sure I have hundreds of photos in my phone of all the demolition work and construction that happened over the next several months but I am not really at the place mentally where I want to look back through all of it right now. We are so very close to calling this whole project done that I am gunning to have this completed by Feb 1st. The only remaining part is the waiting area and then I will be filming a walk through video that will show the before and after so we can show everyone the crazy amount of work that went into this place over a 1 year period.

Other than the shop which took up about 90% of my time, there were a handful of other things that happened this year that were awesome. The first thing to mention would be my trip to Japan with Front Street Drift Club and friends. This trip happened a lot sooner in my life than I thought it would, but it was an amazing experience. I went primarily for business reasons but I made sure to make the best of the trip and see as much as I could. I always tend to plan an unrealistic amount of goals into a trip to a new place. I advise anyone reading this to do the same, get out there and travel. And when you do make sure you pack that trip with as much as you can. Ethan and I got to see F1 at Suzuka Circuit the day after arriving, got to take the bullet train to visit Hiroshima, and even ate Kobe steak in an awesome steakhouse in Kobe Japan. I remember one moment sitting in a shop in Osaka surrounded by drift cars and working on them with my friends thinking to myself how is this even real right now. We were all pinching ourselves a bit on that trip. I am hoping that the video we had filmed that trip is completed and released in Spring 2025. I'm sure it's going to be awesome to look back on years to come.

We did not hit many events this year. Which was the plan all along due to the shop expansion. Weekends were not always available and neither were funds to have merch made. We hit one car show which was a disaster due to a thunderstorm and then the only other event where we sold stuff was Final Bout 7. I will say that the whole Final Bout experience this year was one for the books. I'm not sure what exactly it was for me, but this year felt like one of the most important ones and we weren't even driving. I do know that the podcasts we recorded on this trip were some of the best ones we have ever done so that probably had a lot to do with it. My favorite podcast was with Mike Jones of team GLEAM. Mike welcomed us into his home and let us hang out for hours. This podcast was also the first one we did after picking up Malcolm, Jen and Eddie from the airport. SO it was a family affair and it was just overall a great time. Mike opened up the podcast with gifts for us which was completely unexpected and very generous. Mike and his family offered me and my friends the greatest hospitality. I appreciate him and can not wait to have him on the podcast again!

We recorded 6 podcasts on this trip and all of them were bangers. I encourage you guys to give them a listen when you can. It's so interesting to hear how everyone got into drifting in their own ways. The podcast is turning out to be one of the best learning experiences ever for me, and my favorite ones are always the ones where Karl and I travel to another state. I really hope to get back to the west coast to record some more one day.

We closed off the events for this year with Instinct Drift at Ready Set Drift sometime in September. I was invited by Damien Scott and Matt Craig to help judge the twin drift comp and it was such a fun time! The Haze boys are some of the funniest dudes. The event was a success and got to see some awesome drifting. Karl almost took home the win, him and Ethan were KILLING it. By far the most consistent laps of the event.

Another honorable mention this year was our Fall/Winter merch drop. I love the designs for this drop and the hoodie might be my most favorite design yet. I have been planning for years to introduce a new character to our merch and we finally did! I'm really proud of that drop and hope everyone enjoys it at least half as much as I do.

There were plenty of highs this year and at least one scary low. Around the start of the last quarter of 2024 the shop was doing pretty bad financially. We were getting hit with bills left and right and service work slowed down by at least 60%. So we were hit with the most bills I have ever seen while simultaneously going through the slowest period of work we have that year. We barely pulled through that thanks to our Black Friday sales. And then after the election, things seemed to pick back up again for whatever reason.

All that being said, one goal I had for 2024 was not accomplished at all: my drift car. I wouldn't say I gave up on it, I did manage to get some work done but I did not prioritize it whatsoever. My goal was to finish the shop as soon as possible at all costs. I am bummed about it but more so for Karl and everyone else on the team who I feel are waiting on me to get back behind the wheel. Karl dedicates a good amount of his time to this drift club and business and he just wants one thing. I am making it a priority this year to get back to drifting.

Another thing I am looking forward to most in 2025 is NOT spending any more money on stuff for the shop expansion. I am also looking forward to the events we have planned at the shop and finally being able to use it the way we intended to. Like I said earlier, this whole year sort of feels like a blur to me that I am finally waking up from. 2024 almost feels like it was a necessary evil in my timeline. Lots of ups and downs and a LOT of questioning myself and the actions I was taking. Was this the right move? Did I make a massive financial mistake? I was able to watch the reactions of a lot of different people when they saw just how big of a jump we made in size, and it was always interesting to see the different reactions. You could really tell the type of person they were JUST from seeing how they would react when I opened up that door to the new space. Most business owners congratulated me and were very excited. My closest friends had the same reactions, some friends had mixed feelings. But a lot of other people just looked scared for me. And that was the worst feeling. But as Churchill said, "If you’re going through hell, keep going”. There's no turning back now.

I am not one to look back and praise myself for pretty much anything in my life. But after writing this and revisiting everything that has happened in 2024, I can say I am immensely proud of everyone that has helped us achieve everything we have this year. This includes employees and friends. Apart from all my employees, a special thank you to Karl DelRosario, Jennette Aguas, Ethan Lazarus, Luis Delaozand Front Street Drift Club who all played integral roles in making this shop/year a reality. Whether that was physically knocking down walls, driving to the shop every single week, helping at events, endlessly supporting/promoting the shop, free labor, or just keeping me from jumping off a bridge. I appreciate you all and never say thank you enough, so THANK YOU!

And most importantly, a huge thank you to all of our retail/service customers, listeners, and viewers. None of this would have happened without your continued support!