Help!!! my daughter has lost her mind!

[Hank49]

If one of my kids told me this, I would be pretty stoked that they're excited about something to pursue in their lives.
But, I would also sit with them and talk about it and see if they have researched it, have any idea of the investment needed, understand how dive shops work in a resort area, have a 5 year financial plan, look at the health of the industry in the area they plan to set up in etc etc. I would be real enthusiastic about it and try to help with the plan as much as I could.
If they have done all this and seem to have a realistic view, why not? Starting a dress store down the street from Mom and Dad is risky too.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Agreed, she's 21 with some kind of a degree presumably. She is no longer your responsibility. She's his. Let him take care of her. If he doesn't hunt him down and make him wish he was never born. Slowly and with great pain. But you are not going to change her mind. As for PR, I like it there. Much of the island is very poor. Lots of drugs flow through. When I was there they had set a new murder rate high.

As for running a dive business if he is not a native it'll be tough. Lots of competition. Hope she also has a good trade as they will need that to eat. This is why all kids should spend a couple years in the military before they can get into college. She'd learn something to fall back on.

Of course a paid Phd at Alabama is not that big of a deal. If it were at Auburn that'd be saying something.

I mean c'mon Alabama gave Forrest Friggin Gump a degree.

What's the Phd in - Gator Wrasslin, Pig Farmin, Shrimpin Boat Captain? Or something not at all useful like Medieval English Literature or Art?

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Agreed, she's 21 with some kind of a degree presumably. She is no longer your responsibility. She's his. Let him take care of her.

Completely wrong. She is her own responsibility. Women don't need someone to "take care of [them]" in this day. Or at least, they shouldn't.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

True dat. I stand corrected. But if she is leaving for love he has something to do with that. And some responsibility to share the load at least. Unless she is really in love and he's a bum. Then she'll be chauffeur, cook, maid, breadwinner, and whatever else needs doing. See a lot of that in this area.

 

[Donnah]

We raised two girls. What can you say? "I love you. I care about you. I don't think your plan is a good idea, but it's your life. I love you. I care about you." It's very hard to see kids make a decision that you know is not the right one. At 21, your daughter has to make her own decisions, just as you and I did.

 

[Johanan]

Some time ago a respected diver on this board said something like this: "I love diving, therefore I would better not take a great deal of fun away from it by becoming a professional." I think, it's a good point.

 

[KD8NPB]

How do you make a million in the dive business?

Start with two.

 

[boulderjohn]

You have left out some information.

What is the boy friend's experience in diving?

What is the boy friend's experience with running a business?

Does she have any experience/training in running a business?

How will they get the start up funds for running a scuba business? I did a quick check and did not find any dive businesses for sale in Puerto Rico, but I did find an indication that one sold not long ago for $120,000. That sounds pretty cheap to me. There is a dive business in Grand Cayman priced to sell at $2,500,000 right now. There is another one for sale in Cozumel right now for $1,200,000.

By the way, Puerto Rico is not considered to be a really hot spot to go for diving.

 

[Damselfish]

Probably not going to listen to you or logic. Perhaps give her a gift of a session with a small business consultant to work on her business plan and such...

Or maybe she could put the PHD thing on hold and take a year off to learn to dive and chase pretty fish, that would probably be educational too.

 

[diverjen]

Not sure that I would urge anyone into a PhD right now, especially if they weren't convinced they wanted it when they started. But I agree you could suggest that she try to defer a year, move to Puerto Rico and see how that goes.

Now running off to start a dive shop when you have never dove.... sounds like love is talking and not logic. I like the business consultant gift idea, maybe also give her some contacts of dive shop owners that she can do informational interviews with. Try to give her access to information in a supportive way (as above), but not information itself or tell her what to do.