Author Topic: FranLab is getting evicted  (Read 251166 times)

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Offline Caliaxy

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #875 on: October 29, 2021, 03:03:46 am »
Not in Philly, and that's essentially the problem. She won't consider a reasonably priced place outside the city.

It’s the Philly cheesesteak sandwich, isn’t it? I know guys who would kill for a good one …
 

Offline Bassman59

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #876 on: October 29, 2021, 10:04:18 pm »
Not in Philly, and that's essentially the problem. She won't consider a reasonably priced place outside the city.

It’s the Philly cheesesteak sandwich, isn’t it? I know guys who would kill for a good one …

I'll be in Philly in March -- I'm definitely getting a cheesesteak.
 

Offline Gregg

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #877 on: October 29, 2021, 10:58:04 pm »
I'm sure Fran has enough viewership to loan her enough money to get a house.

Not in Philly, and that's essentially the problem. She won't consider a reasonably priced place outside the city.
"There are none so blind as those who will not see" John Heywood circa 1546
 
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Offline Quarlo Klobrigney

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #878 on: October 30, 2021, 01:12:15 pm »
"It riles them to believe that you perceive the web they weave" Justin Hayward circa 1969
« Last Edit: October 31, 2021, 02:57:32 am by Quarlo Klobrigney »
Voltage does not flow, nor does voltage go.
 
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Offline Cerebus

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #879 on: October 30, 2021, 02:10:21 pm »
"Wop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bom-bom"

Little Richard, 1955
Anybody got a syringe I can use to squeeze the magic smoke back into this?
 
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Offline rsjsouza

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #880 on: October 30, 2021, 10:16:19 pm »
"Iacta alea est"
Julius Caesar, 49BC
Vbe - vídeo blog eletrônico http://videos.vbeletronico.com

Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 

Online Ed.Kloonk

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #881 on: October 31, 2021, 12:26:44 am »
"Trust me, I'm a doctor."

My doctor, yesterday.
iratus parum formica
 

Online SiliconWizard

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #882 on: October 31, 2021, 02:29:55 am »
"Trust me, I'm an engineer!"

Haha, when you need to resort to an argument of authority, it's usually that you are not very convincing.
 

Offline Psi

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #883 on: October 31, 2021, 03:02:47 am »
I'm sure Fran has enough viewership to loan her enough money to get a house.

Not in Philly, and that's essentially the problem. She won't consider a reasonably priced place outside the city.

She said she could afford to repay a loan, but just can't get one.
So one would assume that means she can afford the loan repayments needed to buy a house where she wants one.
Greek letter 'Psi' (not Pounds per Square Inch)
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #884 on: November 01, 2021, 12:30:48 am »
I'm sure Fran has enough viewership to loan her enough money to get a house.
Not in Philly, and that's essentially the problem. She won't consider a reasonably priced place outside the city.
She said she could afford to repay a loan, but just can't get one.
So one would assume that means she can afford the loan repayments needed to buy a house where she wants one.

You won't get a house in the centre of the city of Philly though, it'd be an apartment.
Then there is the question of where the deposit comes from.
And then the problems of finding a suitable live/work space close to her other spaces, and the ongoing costs of those other spaces (5 spaces total).
I suspect that buying a place in the downtown city of Philly, even if possible, solves the getting booted out problem, but will still be a large financial cash flow burden.

The argument from many people remains the same, it's vastly cheaper to consolidate into a large combined space in the suburbs.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #885 on: October 09, 2022, 11:13:41 pm »
Sadly it looks like financial crunch time for Franlab  :(

Either the Patreon income increases to keep it afloat, or she has to progressively shut down the 3 spaces she has (4 actually, two storage spaces, factory, and the apartment)

This time I proposed in the comments that if she wants to save it all then she has to consolidate the two storage spaces and factory and daily commute to a single cheaper bigger space. And also maybe downsize the Philly apartment.
At the moment I believe all 3 spaces are walking distance or a very short trip from her downtown apartment, and she is paying a huge financial penalty for that.
$90k/year is the cost for all the rent and expenses.
EDIT: She has since commented that's not an option, so it's Patreon or bust.

« Last Edit: October 10, 2022, 12:11:15 am by EEVblog »
 

Online bdunham7

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #886 on: October 09, 2022, 11:27:45 pm »
Advertising and all of the businesses that rely on it will now be winding down slowly, then perhaps abruptly in the near future. General advertising budgets are being slashed as companies reexamine their operations and economics.  Companies that are still willing to pay are going to want things like in-channel endorsements, not skippable ads randomly applied by Youtube or Google's algorithms.  Content creators that value their integrity and don't want to be paid shills are going to have to make some adjustments. 
A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 

Online SiliconWizard

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #887 on: October 09, 2022, 11:49:59 pm »
I obviously don't know all Fran's constraints and all. But just a thought is that she's been renting several places for pretty high rents for years. Wouldn't she have been able to buy a place with all this money and not have to be at the mercy of landlords?
 

Online bdunham7

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #888 on: October 10, 2022, 12:04:21 am »
I obviously don't know all Fran's constraints and all. But just a thought is that she's been renting several places for pretty high rents for years. Wouldn't she have been able to buy a place with all this money and not have to be at the mercy of landlords?

Probably not, especially in her area which she is adamantly unwilling to leave.  First off, many of these types of commercial buildings are rarely sold and she may not even be renting an entire building.  Second, you'd need the money up front because obtaining financing for this type of operation is nearly impossible.  It's a very tough spot.
A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #889 on: October 10, 2022, 12:17:03 am »
I obviously don't know all Fran's constraints and all. But just a thought is that she's been renting several places for pretty high rents for years. Wouldn't she have been able to buy a place with all this money and not have to be at the mercy of landlords?

She has explained that many times and why it's not an option.
For personal security reasons she doesn't want to leave Philly. And Philly no longer has any live/work spaces that don't cost way more than she's already paying.
This time I suggested living in Philly for personal lifestyle and commuting to a big consolidated space just outside Philly somwhere, but it seems this also isn't an option for her.
I'm afraid she's stuck and will have to abandon all her stuff and spaces within the the next 6 months tops  :(

She seems not at all willing to consider giving up some perceived personal safety to commute or live elsewhere in order to save FranLab as it currently exists.
As to buying a place, being self employed it's all but impossible to get a loan. But she can't afford anything in Philly anyway AFAIK.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2022, 12:22:57 am by EEVblog »
 

Offline james_s

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #890 on: October 10, 2022, 01:46:39 am »
She has explained that many times and why it's not an option.
For personal security reasons she doesn't want to leave Philly. And Philly no longer has any live/work spaces that don't cost way more than she's already paying.
This time I suggested living in Philly for personal lifestyle and commuting to a big consolidated space just outside Philly somwhere, but it seems this also isn't an option for her.
I'm afraid she's stuck and will have to abandon all her stuff and spaces within the the next 6 months tops  :(

She seems not at all willing to consider giving up some perceived personal safety to commute or live elsewhere in order to save FranLab as it currently exists.
As to buying a place, being self employed it's all but impossible to get a loan. But she can't afford anything in Philly anyway AFAIK.


Unfortunately I'm pretty much all out of shits to give at this point, she's created this problem for herself by having unreasonably rigid artificial constraints. We all knew exactly what was going to happen given the current trajectory which amounts to trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I really don't understand the irrational obsession with Philly or the insistence that is is safer. In terms of LGBTQ friendly areas I'm not even sure it's in the top 10 that would come to my mind. Statistically rural areas are far safer, and while the individual people in those areas may not be as LGBT friendly I don't think it matters, even in the deep red conservative parts of the USA most rural people mind their own business and like to be left alone. Most of the people outside the very specific engineering/maker subculture probably don't know who she is, would have no idea she was trans (I didn't until it was mentioned here) and would leave her alone. Certainly it is extremely unlikely that anyone would threaten her physical safety, Philly is widely known for being a high crime city, it isn't somewhere I'd even want to visit and I certainly wouldn't feel safe walking around downtown and I'm a >6' tall straight male. For the whopping $90k a year she could easily afford a nice detached house with a large workshop on several acres in a rural part of the country, and with a bit of luck a bus ride away from some sort of urban environment. It would be objectively safer, I just can't even imagine why somebody would rather live in an urban city unless they spend all their time going out to clubs and work in the office at a large downtown company.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2022, 05:51:57 am by james_s »
 
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Offline Stray Electron

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #891 on: October 10, 2022, 02:21:14 am »
  James' nailed it. I've been following this discussion and have been wondering the same things.  I can tell you for a FACT that there are plenty of areas in the US that are LGBT friendly and that she wouldn't have any trouble in; and that are also a lot safer (for anyone) than Philly, and that are much more affordable.
 

Online Bud

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #892 on: October 10, 2022, 02:28:29 am »
Patreon support should be considered a bonus. It blows my mind that someone would rely on Patreon for living. Back few years when her troubles with renting started i said counting on Patreon is a wrong thing because it is not a sustainable source of income. This video has confirmed that.
OK, lets assume the Patrion supporters increase their pledges. Two years from now it will be eaten away with inflation and increased rents, and she will be back begging again.
Facebook-free life and Rigol-free shack.
 

Offline Black Phoenix

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #893 on: October 10, 2022, 02:57:13 am »
Patreon support should be considered a bonus. It blows my mind that someone would rely on Patreon for living. Back few years when her troubles with renting started i said counting on Patreon is a wrong thing because it is not a sustainable source of income. This video has confirmed that.
OK, lets assume the Patrion supporters increase their pledges. Two years from now it will be eaten away with inflation and increased rents, and she will be back begging again.

Exactly. I fail to understand what some people think YouTube and Patreon is.

Youtube before the ADpocalypse was not a reliable way of making money, now even worse. Patreon as a plead support exists but is not reliable because as YouTube how many people go for the premium/paid subscription? YouTube with uBlock you can say bye to ads on the start of the videos (or if you use a VPN choose a country like Taiwan - it's the one I normally connect and to this day I'm still waiting to see an ad pop up in the beginning or middle of a video. Same can't be said if I choose Japan or Hong Kong). The YouTuber have a promotional ad inside the video? Just hit twice the arrow to scrub 10sec and ad finished.

Some YouTubers now going to services like Nebula who have a subscription with Curiosity Stream, including having content only available in such service. Just a search on reddit and you can see such content on pirate streaming websites.

People who don't want to pay will not pay, end of story. Be not being able, be believing that entertainment should be free, whatever the reason.

YouTubers and other content providers should change their approach and understand that YouTube and other services are another avenue for revenue, should not be the main one. They should have a work, a product or a shop or some kind of main revenue to support them.

Or course this is not true for big channels as MKBHD, LTT and Kurzgesagt as an example, but those channels grown in their respective fields in the golden age of YouTube. But even those channels had to diversify - both the 3 above do commercial work, as you can rent then to do corporate training videos (LTT) or educational videos (Kurzgesagt) or even company filming/ad production (MKBHD).

For all successful channels said above a ton are underperforming or failing to be able to break the water line. The tech/review sector is flooded of people trying to do the same others do, without anything that makes them differently of their peers in the same area of interest.

This will happen even more as companies cut ad costs, price increases because of inflation or other non controlable reasons.

Wanna share context to the masses, great do it, but don't expect to make a living on that.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #894 on: October 10, 2022, 02:58:19 am »
  James' nailed it. I've been following this discussion and have been wondering the same things.  I can tell you for a FACT that there are plenty of areas in the US that are LGBT friendly and that she wouldn't have any trouble in; and that are also a lot safer (for anyone) than Philly, and that are much more affordable.

It might take a whole bunch of fellow trans people to convince her, but I suspect even that won't work as I've tried to convence her to jump on LGBT forums and find a suitable locations but she was't interested.
When she was looking at buying instead of renting some time back I found a nice place in a smaller town just near Philly that has a great big standalone place for sale at like $100k or something and there was a big LGBT centre just down the road. She wouldn't even consider it, it's philly or bust.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #895 on: October 10, 2022, 03:01:42 am »
OK, lets assume the Patrion supporters increase their pledges. Two years from now it will be eaten away with inflation and increased rents, and she will be back begging again.

I hate to be a downer, but I'm pretty sure its not going to work. All of us creators have seen a general decline in Patreon support, and we can't even get 10% of our already paying Patrons to watch an exclusive video when we release it to them, let alone increase their pledge.
You would think that paying Patron are more passionate about your content than most viewers, but it turns out they aren't that much different, in that it's hard to get 10% of them to even action something that takes them little effort.
 

Online SiliconWizard

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #896 on: October 10, 2022, 03:02:59 am »
Many people are using Patreon as a significant source of income. It's just part of a content creator's strategy these days. So I don't think it should be considered as a "bonus". The only thing to consider here IMO is as with anything else - don't put all your eggs in the same basket. Diversify your sources of income. Easier said than done probably in her case.

Ultimately, her problem is very simple: how to make more money, at least enough to cover expenses and some extra to save. That's pretty much the problem everyone is facing, except that when you're an employee, your only problem if you need more than you earn is to ask for a raise, and if it doesn't work, find a new one. When you have your own business, it requires a lot more work and imagination to get there.

 

Online bdunham7

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #897 on: October 10, 2022, 03:17:47 am »
I can tell you for a FACT that there are plenty of areas in the US that are LGBT friendly and that she wouldn't have any trouble in; and that are also a lot safer (for anyone) than Philly, and that are much more affordable.

Every situation is specific.  If you've struggled to fit in for many years and finally made some friends and connections and you feel comfortable in your environment, packing up and leaving is not an easy thing to contemplate. 
So no judgements from me on that account.  OTOH, I'm sorry to say the overall business plan is doomed, IMO. 
A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #898 on: October 10, 2022, 03:18:50 am »
Ultimately, her problem is very simple: how to make more money, at least enough to cover expenses and some extra to save.

Or slash costs.
IMO she has to stop the cash bleeding now instead of later.
She said the first thing to go will be "factory" that has her lathe, paint shop woodworking etc. I don't think we've ever seen that on camera?
Then the two storage units.

So it's either sell it all shut them down, or move them all into one big cheap location that's outside of Philly and have to live wih the commute when needed.
I don't know Philly, but I can't imagine there not being a big cheap space available somewhere within say an hours drive?  :-//
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #899 on: October 10, 2022, 03:21:13 am »
I can tell you for a FACT that there are plenty of areas in the US that are LGBT friendly and that she wouldn't have any trouble in; and that are also a lot safer (for anyone) than Philly, and that are much more affordable.
Every situation is specific.  If you've struggled to fit in for many years and finally made some friends and connections and you feel comfortable in your environment, packing up and leaving is not an easy thing to contemplate.  So no judgements from me on that account. 

I agree, which is why this time I suggested staying in Philly but moving the rest outside Philly. Better to have it all in storage somewhere cheap and hardly ever access it than to get rid of it all when it's so clearly of huge value to her personally.
 


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