Humility or Inflation?

As I approach my 5th year in business, my prices have been the same for the most part. My standard bag prices haven’t changed, despite reading an article from the Washington Post that the average price of a ground pound of coffee has gone from $4-$7 since 2020. I want to be clear, this is not a political statement, I have no interest in politics, that eventually fail one group of people or another. It is just the reality of economics I have learned over the years, which inspired me to a path of humility, which will always resist inflation. Circa 2009 inflation was high, and a family member would complain “because the president is hurting the stock market, I’m losing money”. Reality was my this persons selfish ways were leading to his eventual decline. I will say inflation on the other side is also a selfish since borrowing money for subsidizing projects and then taxing others is often a way of transferring wealth from one person to another. In addition to the many other ways that drive up costs like terrorism/criminal behavior, political upheaval, natural disaster (i.e.price gouging), etc. It’s always more complexed than a simple article from some assumed intellectual representing their side of the spectrum.

The point I’m simply trying to make is we often want things on our terms, even if it hurts someone else. In the case of the family member, he eventually depleted his entire savings because he didn’t want to change his lifestyle. He had lots of toys, but he had no one to share them with, and over a 5 year span he squandered $200,000 that he saved, paying for a boat and many other things that he no longer used or could afford. By the time of his unexpected death, he left his partner and his kids a couple thousand in the bank and legal challenges because he never married his partner as he proposed he would do.

This was a great lesson in my life to be humble in all that I do, so matter what the challenges, I can easily adjust to keep things even keeled, rather than get crushed but the volatile nature of our society. It’s not much different than gambling, and reality is your odds are better at winning in small matters than larger ones. Very few of us become rock stars and/or influencers in the world. However, if you do study people of success, many of them built momentum on small matters, and when the time was right, destiny had it’s way.

With this context, we recently repeated history with more inflation. Whatever the reasons, whoever the politician, we racked up more debt, raised the cost of doing business, which then raised the cost of living. Covid in 2020 could’ve caused concern about how am I going to start my business, however I went forward and quit my 50 hour a week job. Gas in 2021 definitely made me concerned and want to raise my prices, but I didn’t. 2022 was a good year, but I had to invest in better equipment, and more inventory to reduce my costs, which depleted my cash flow. I wanted to raise my prices, but I didn’t. 2023 just when I thought I was about to pay my SUV off, I abruptly had to buy a new truck and tripled my car payment thanks to a mechanics bad advice. I wanted to raise my prices, but I didn’t. 2024 sales flat lined while others were negative across the country due to financial challenges, the worst thing I did was end my coffee of the day special I had started in 2020 as a way to streamline my daily pour overs in one selection, instead of many. This allowed me to be a more efficient as a one person business that was growing. My bag prices have remained the same as well, while other artisans will consistently go up, for whatever their reasons.

With all of that said, the path to humility and growing within in my parameters has allowed me to control my costs and absorb the challenges. The home we live in has a fixed cost. The cost of it’s operation has increased minimally, while my wife’s career and my own have steadily grown. We choose not to move since a lateral move would increase our mortgage by $1,000 easily due to inflated interest rates. In addition we keep moving towards our goals patiently living with in our means. In all of this God has continually provided. With the choices I have made, I work less hours than I did when I started the business due to finding a healthy balance. In addition all of my investments have allowed me grow, and everything has always paid for itself. The truck for example allowed me to carry more inventory with me and over the year the extra sales have paid for the increased cost. Again, balance, my business grew within the parameters I set for my self, and I trusted doing the right thing, would bring the right results, since it’s truly grounded in service of others. I could do more, but I have chosen patience, wisdom I lacked when I was younger and ambitious.

In close Mother Teresa is a great reminder of this. She and her order continue to rely on God’s provisions, while serving the poor. In addition to the great work they do, they still have plenty of time for prayer and serving God. The sisters reminded me of this when I sent them a small donation, of leftover 5’s and singles at the end of my season. They were insistent that I didn’t solicit these funds on their behalf. I then insisted it’s just left over change at the end of my season. If I’m being honest with myself, it’s selfish and not much considering they serve those that have very little. This is the great challenge though. Doing our individual part to make a better society. Pacing oneself is important so we do not burn out and flare out. We very often go all in, and loose our passion after the first failure, which then leads to us giving up on the change we are seeking.

Missionaries of Charity Washington DC Adoration of Jesus Christ made present in the Eucharist.