2020 started out the same as most years have started for me, looking forward to improving myself and impressing my boss at my dead-end 9 – 5 retail job.

“That’s the problem, we get used to things.

We accept what we think we deserve.”

January was already a rollercoaster of a start, my father was admitted to ICU after a truck hit him while cycling on the 31st of December, luckily he recovered perfectly. New years was spent in hospital by my father’s side, if the year starts off like that, things can’t get much worse, can they? The last day of January 2020, the 31st, our baby, Lilly unfortunately passed away. Doing the “responsible thing”, ignoring all of our gut feelings, we took her in to get spayed. We took her home and she stopped breathing on the way back to the vet, RIP “Pappa se Baba”.

February would be better, replanting my grass and getting the house into shape, anything really to get our minds off the tragedy of losing our beloved Lilly. Valentine’s day was a sigh of relief, for one day everything was okay. A few weeks later we adopted our new puppy, Roxy, generously gifted to us after someone saw how we were struggling with the loss of our baby.

March started off well, it was going great at work, my grass was green again, it was our anniversary and we got our 2nd new puppy, Obe (One Blue Eye) and then, COVID-19. On the 27th of March 2020 South Africa entered a hard lockdown, no leaving the house, a total shutdown of life as we know it for 3 weeks, so we thought at the time. While most people stopped working our sales team was working nonstop from home, it was supposed to be exciting. Little did I know I would be working harder than ever before, taking calls and emails 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, it was expected of us and it was horrible, this was just the beginning .

“Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. “

April was spent indoors as our lockdown was extended, business was great, people were buying bikes like there was no tomorrow. April was a record month at work, the sales team was working hard, the rest were at home receiving full salaries. Working from home was becoming a major issue, my privacy was invaded and the expectations from my employers at the time were getting ridiculous.

“If opportunity doesn’t come knocking, build a door.”

We were now entering May and lockdown was set to gradually be eased with most essential retailers opening at a certain capacity. While others were sitting at home renovating, relaxing or just doing nothing, we were working nonstop, being told we are privileged to get paid for overworking ourselves and being micromanaged up to the point where it was not funny anymore. Then came the call, “Salary cuts”, we were promised we would be safe as we had been doing our part by working nonstop. 14 May 2020, that is the day I made the decision I should’ve made a few years ago, I decided to resign in lockdown. For the past two years I had been working 8.30 to 17.30 and working a 2nd job at night, buying, fixing and selling used bicycles for an extra income, this was now set to be my main form of income, scary, but very exciting.

“Entrepreneurs are willing to work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week.” -Lori Greiner

May and June were amazing, I was working harder than I’ve worked in my entire life and I was happy. I can not emphasize how amazing it is to work hard and know that you are working towards your own dreams. I had set up a full workshop in my courtyard and business was great. The decision didn’t come without any controversys from the people you least expect it, friends and family. “How can you just quit your job?”, “We are all going through the same thing, you should’ve stuck it out”, those are some of the responses I got from the closest people in my life. What they didn’t understand, I wasn’t running away from a problem, I took a leap of faith to be happy, I saw an opportunity and I took it. This pushed me towards doing everything privately, I kept everything to myself and worked my @$$ off.

“Move in silence, only speak when it’s time to say CHECKMATE. “

What goes up, must come down. Business was great, I was working so hard and it was definitely paying off. In the beginning of July 2020 I was minding my own business while crossing a green traffic light, a 18 year old kid in his BMW jumped the red light and hit me. Thankfully I escaped without any type of serious injury, just a stiff neck and a few cuts. I am still struggling with my health, I still get the headaches, sore throat, insomnia, the list goes on, I have gotten sobised to it I just carry on, it is part of my life and has shaped me. On the other hand, my trusty panelvan wasn’t so luckily, she had accompanied me on every business trip for the last year, she was gone. We were soon blessed with an amazing deal that came our way and took delivery of our new BMW X3 M-Sport, everything happens for a reason. Business picked up again immediately and I was as determined as ever.

August was a huge relief, we went out for a social gathering for the first time in months, it was much needed. We had the privilege of going away for the weekend for my amazing wife to be’s birthday with our two furry children. August was set to be a great month, it did not disappoint, business was booming.

“The fruit of your own hard work is the sweetest.”

September and spring were both here, things were slowly but surely getting back to normal and all my hard work and late nights were paying off, I was planning my next move. As I said earlier, everything was done in silence, I was running out of space at home for all the bikes and needed a workplace where there would be less distractions. On the 15th of September I signed the lease agreement to open my first bicycle store on the 1st of October, I was ecstatic! The hard work was only starting now, buying more and more stock, spending every second of my day and every available late night getting the store up and running.

On the 1st of October, my pride and joy was up for display for the world to see, Direct Velo had opened it’s doors and I was ready to make my dreams come true. In between resigning, working myself into the ground, we were planning our very own wedding. On the 31st of October I would finally get to marry the person that had been by my side through every single up and down for the last 3 years, I married the love of my life. When every single person in my life doubted me, didn’t believe in me, she was there to assure me that I could and would make a success. We had spent every available moment planning every single detail of our wedding, we did it all by ourselves and it was beautiful. She was beautiful, sprinting down the aisle to get to me, I am without a doubt, the luckiest man on this planet.

November started out with our surprise honeymoon, she had no idea we were going away for two weeks. I decided to travel the entire garden route, sleeping at a different B&B and town every single evening, it was amazing. We returned and my bubble was burst immediately, business had gone down, it was dead. I worked nonstop, every single minute was spent buying bicycles and fixing them up, I needed to get back in the game and I did. Before the end of November business was picking up and was better than ever.

“What defines us is how we rise after falling.”

December was set to be the month of 2020 for me, everything was going better than I could’ve predicted, business was insane, I was operating at a level I never knew I could. On the 11th of December I woke up with a call from my security company and rushed to my store, they had robbed me. They took my 5 most expensive bikes, R80 000, gone. I was busy getting insurance, but hadn’t put the pen to the paper, it was a rookie mistake. Again, everything happens for a reason, this moment would define me, it would either break me or push me to higher heights. I tried to keep it as private as possible, but the negative comments again came from all sides, I didn’t need any help, I needed support and my lovely wife was there to offer it to me as always, we would get through this. I wasn’t just robbed of hard earned money, I was robbed of endless amounts of hard work and my privacy was invaded, I wasn’t going to let this get me down. The very next day I set out and got back to business as usual. The next week was awful, I was stressed, sick and working through this tragedy that could break me. I refused and worked my way through it, we are now ending 2020 and business is on the up again, 2020 tried to break me but it made me stronger.

“If you do not receive the same efforts you give, lose that contact.”

The biggest lesson that 2020 had taught me was that you can not keep crossing the ocean for people who wouldn’t even jump puddles for you. I will leave you with this. Do not chace. Know your worth and know that you deserve to atleast be met half way. If they don’t match your effort, they don’t want to be in your life.

If you have gotten this far, thank you for taking the time to read my post, you are awsome! Happy new year and I hope that all your dreams will come true and 2021 will be your year, I wish only the best for every single person. No storm is too big when you have faith in God.