FranLab is getting evicted

[EEVblog]

In Fran's case I think she has tried, like in terms of trying to get a loan, multipe times from what I gather, but she seems to have now given up on that and simply says it's not possible.
Add in that she won't consider moving out of Philly, and the situation is now hopeless.
Well, it's not completely hopeless, you can buy a 2000sqft place in Philly for $80k, but, well, here you go:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2524-26-N-27th-St-Philadelphia-PA-19132/10310452_zpid/?

It's the "won't consider moving out of Philly" part that makes it hopeless. We all know there are other decent places to live, and you'd be hard pressed to do worse than Philly unless your idea of "decent" is very strange.

I can find no shortage of places under $200k within an hours drive of Philly.
Even if you want a huge block, for example, $180k, 2391sqft home on 1.39 acress of land, need a complete reno, but wouldn't be too hard. No one would bother you there, and the area looks nice.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/366-Hoffmansville-Rd-Bechtelsville-PA-19505/9920135_zpid/

[EEVblog]

I can find no shortage of places under $200k within an hours drive of Philly.
Even if you want a huge block, for example, $180k, 2391sqft home on 1.39 acress of land, need a complete reno, but wouldn't be too hard. No one would bother you there, and the area looks nice.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/366-Hoffmansville-Rd-Bechtelsville-PA-19505/9920135_zpid/

Or a rather nice suburban home in NJ, just over the bridge from Philly for $199k. A bit dated but plenty of working space:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/813-W-Kings-Hwy-Mount-Ephraim-NJ-08059/38287330_zpid/

[james_s]

That looks quite nice. Nothing wrong with "dated", mid-century is all the rage these days anyway.

[EEVblog]

That looks quite nice. Nothing wrong with "dated", mid-century is all the rage these days anyway.

Totally nice normal looking neighborhood. You could hop on a bike and ride into Philly.
You can see Philly in the background! Huge block of land, set for life, no one would bother you.
Don't know about NJ taxes etc though.

[TomKatt]

NJ - Home of the McMansion 

I think taxes in NJ are a tad on the high side...  Also, they have a funny law where it's illegal to pump your own gasoline at the filling station - an employee must do it for you.

I imagine it's still nicer than central Philly.

[james_s]

Oregon has the same law, it has always struck me as weird to not be allowed to do something I've been doing for decades. I try to avoid buying gas until I get back to Washington.

[EEVblog]

Looks like the fund raising is going to peter out at $10k of the $15k wanted. Not sure if that includes the 3% transaction fee or not. Then I think Fran has said before there are state taxes of some such, IIRC about 30%?
So looks like she'll get around half the required amount, just for the remainder of this year. The rest will have to come from savings or Franlab income which was already boderline.
So sounds like even a more precarious position than before this?
If ongoing medical is required, which I think she has indicated it will be, this fund raiser won't work again every year.
Again, drastic changed required somewhere I think.

[james_s]

That's actually better than I expected, since it's just kicking the can down the road without any plan. On top of that, the tech industry has been suffering a lot of layoffs recently and people interested in Fran's videos are probably disproportionately likely to work in tech. Even many of those of us that are still employed are cutting back in order to boost the emergency fund.

[EEVblog]

That's actually better than I expected, since it's just kicking the can down the road without any plan. On top of that, the tech industry has been suffering a lot of layoffs recently and people interested in Fran's videos are probably disproportionately likely to work in tech. Even many of those of us that are still employed are cutting back in order to boost the emergency fund.

It's only 130 people backing it, that's less than 8% of her Patrons. That tracks with engagment that all of us creators see, you basically never get greater than 10% engagment with even you most ardent fans, the Patrons who are paying money. >90% of them won't even watch the free advance video you post, or vote in polls etc.
And that's the delemma Fran will continually face.
I still see the only way out is drastically cutting expenses by any means necessary.

[EEVblog]

I'm not sure how accurate Graphtreon is, but Patrons are dropping every month after the last big call for help which is the big rise that you see.

[PlainName]

It's only 130 people backing it, that's less than 8% of her Patrons

Perhaps the other 90% consider their Patreon subs already contributing. Indeed, those 130 might not be patrons at all.

[EEVblog]

It's only 130 people backing it, that's less than 8% of her Patrons

Perhaps the other 90% consider their Patreon subs already contributing. Indeed, those 130 might not be patrons at all.

I think majority are, as she put the link on Patreon first and I think it was at at least $6k before the public video.

[Nominal Animal]

Again, drastic changes required somewhere I think.

For sure.  And if one waits too long, a change will be imposed on oneself (because we live in the real world), and that won't be pleasant.

Planning is really not about deciding how things should go, it is about knowing how to react and having a choice when changes do occur.  The planned course of action then just identifies the most preferable set of options.

If you plan everything on one course of action, you will be in stress hell.  Any small setback, and even the risk of a setback, can feel unsurmountable.
When you know you have alternatives available, you feel much freer in choosing your reactions, and things just don't feel unsurmountable, or setbacks "final".
I used to plan things around a single course of action when I was younger, and it lead to a lot of stress-related problems, even when things went consistently my way.

[tom66]

I'm not sure how accurate Graphtreon is, but Patrons are dropping every month after the last big call for help which is the big rise that you see.

Is that regular "dip" in Patreons correlated with each video asking for help or something else?  It seems very regular 

[TomKatt]

Planning is really not about deciding how things should go, it is about knowing how to react and having a choice when changes do occur.  The planned course of action then just identifies the most preferable set of options.

[EEVblog]

I'm not sure how accurate Graphtreon is, but Patrons are dropping every month after the last big call for help which is the big rise that you see.

Is that regular "dip" in Patreons correlated with each video asking for help or something else?  It seems very regular 

Nope, I see the exact same pattern when zoomed in, so it must be an algorithm thing or something. And my Patrons are continually dropping just like she has confirmed hers does too.
I think the Patreon gravy train might be on the downward slope for Fran, at least that's what's I'd plan on if I was her.
Fran is proping it up peridocially with a specific video on the topic and how dire it is, and it works a little bit to stop loses in previous months, but then the most recent one dropped back to where she was before within a month or two. She confirmed this in one of the videos.
Without an alternative strategy now, it's unsustainable unless she gets a huge algorithm boost on Youtube.

[TomKatt]

It's a real tough thing.  I've never done any YouTube, but I can imagine it's quite difficult to reach the point where it replaces 'conventional' income for sustainment.

The world isn't fair, and not all good content is recognized with the same financial success.

[EEVblog]

Again, drastic changes required somewhere I think.

For sure.  And if one waits too long, a change will be imposed on oneself (because we live in the real world), and that won't be pleasant.

Planning is really not about deciding how things should go, it is about knowing how to react and having a choice when changes do occur.  The planned course of action then just identifies the most preferable set of options.

If you plan everything on one course of action, you will be in stress hell.  Any small setback, and even the risk of a setback, can feel unsurmountable.
When you know you have alternatives available, you feel much freer in choosing your reactions, and things just don't feel unsurmountable, or setbacks "final".
I used to plan things around a single course of action when I was younger, and it lead to a lot of stress-related problems, even when things went consistently my way.

Actually, we don't need to guess, she has told us the plan in the previous videos. She is all-in on Patreon, and if that combined with the Youtube revenue drops then the factory gets shut down first, then the two storage units, and then it's the end of Franlab and back to a 9-5 job to survivie if she can get one.

As a viewer, I think her channel could survivie just fine without the factory and the two storage units close to hand (within walking distance I think?).
To me the plan I would implement right now would be to put the call out for someone who can offer to rent her a very cheap large space (like a barn or something) outside of Philly, but driveable distance so she could go there and get stuff if needed. Maybe do one trip every month to get items for teardown etc.
That would immediately slash 3 rents into 1 and give some buffer room and to build up some savings.

I also have 3 locations outside of my house (lab+2 storage), and that's what I'd do if I was in the same financial situation. Ditch the 3 expensive convenient locations and rent a big cheap shed out in the western suburbs and make videos back in my garage again.

[EEVblog]

It's a real tough thing.  I've never done any YouTube, but I can imagine it's quite difficult to reach the point where it replaces 'conventional' income for sustainment.

I've been doing Youtube for 13 years, and 11 years full time now, and even after all that time the Youtube income alone would still not be enough for me to make this a full time living.
Well, I wouldn't be destitute over the US$50k US (+US$5K EEVblog2) income over the last year, but I could earn more as a professional engineer again, and that's what the wife would make me do 
I only went full time and am very confortable now because I diversified my income streams (Youtube, Patreon, merch, product, website and forum advertising), and I made the decision early on to take on a bit of risk and buy my lab and storage unit instead of rent, and to pay it off as quickly as I could.

Also look at the other electronics Youtubers who are now bigger than my channel, like Electroboom and Great Scott, they would earn more Yotuube adsense revenue than me as they get more views, but they have to take in-video sponsorships to ultimately get a decent income. You have to do what you have to do to keep the dream job going. In my first year full time I had a side design consulting gig as the money wasn't quite there yet.

[Kasper]

Dave, you seem to be enjoying searching for real estate out there.  Are you going to buy some?  If you make a REIT (real estate investment trust) I'm in.

I can see it now, a REIT / makerspace / incubator franchise.  We help people bring their ideas to the market and they help us retire.

[Nominal Animal]

She is all-in on Patreon, and if that combined with the Youtube revenue drops then the factory gets shut down first, then the two storage units, and then it's the end of Franlab and back to a 9-5 job to survivie if she can get one.

Yup.  Like I said, in my experience that leads to stress hell: no options, no hope for having better 2024 than 2023 or 2022 or 2021.  The absolute best outcome she's hoping for is "things do not change".  I just hope her health issues aren't stress-induced or -excarberated.

[EEVblog]

Dave, you seem to be enjoying searching for real estate out there.  Are you going to buy some?  If you make a REIT (real estate investment trust) I'm in.
I can see it now, a REIT / makerspace / incubator franchise.  We help people bring their ideas to the market and they help us retire.

It's a hobby of mine.
The thing is, something like this might actually be possible if Fran was flexible with moving and travel. The entire problem is she isn't flexible.
There are even options for makerspaces in Philly like this one:
https://nextfab.com/join/#mem-lvls
or this:
https://www.hive76.org/

I don't know if her factory is already part of one of these, but that first one offers shipping services and I've tried to convence her before to get into branded product sales but she has vetoed that idea based on that delivery from her place is almost non-exisistent.

[james_s]

At this rate Dave might end up being the premier world expert on real estate in the PA/NJ region of the USA.

[Kasper]

Dave, you seem to be enjoying searching for real estate out there.  Are you going to buy some?  If you make a REIT (real estate investment trust) I'm in.
I can see it now, a REIT / makerspace / incubator franchise.  We help people bring their ideas to the market and they help us retire.

It's a hobby of mine.
The thing is, something like this might actually be possible if Fran was flexible with moving and travel. The entire problem is she isn't flexible.
There are even options for makerspaces in Philly like this one:
https://nextfab.com/join/#mem-lvls
or this:
https://www.hive76.org/

I don't know if her factory is already part of one of these, but that first one offers shipping services and I've tried to convence her before to get into branded product sales but she has vetoed that idea based on that delivery from her place is almost non-exisistent.

That sounds like a good fit.  Someone that can deal with shipping and some of the other things Fran doesn't want to do.

[EEVblog]

At this rate Dave might end up being the premier world expert on real estate in the PA/NJ region of the USA.

It's surprising how few hours it takes to get (and maintain) decent knowledge of an area and prices/features etc.
I even found places for Louis Rossmann that he hadn't found when he was looking, and he went to visit one in a video. It was a dump, but it was a genuine size.