05/27/2026
In a parking lot getting emotional thinking about my Dad and it's been 18 years and it still hurts so bad that hes not here so bad.
One of the 1000 lessons he taught me was to not sit on the sidelines to not live life saying " I should have " or " i wish I had" When it came to business and my business ideas as long as I would present him with a detailed business plan he would financially support me.
He would always cut me off when I would sit with him and start telling him why my idea was so great and he would say
" Son, Im sure it's a great business idea but everyone when starting a new business will tell you the reasons why their going to make a million dollars with their new business. If Im going to invest in your business I don't want to hear all the great things about it what I want you to do is write down the 10 reasons why this new business could fail and what are you going to do to prepare for these possibilities. "
I would say
" no Dad this business is full proof "
and he would say
" Bu****it son, no business is full proof"
So he would force me to come up with 10 reasons the business could fail and solutions"
I remember after one of my 1st businesses failing I was crying so hard to him because I had failed and he had backed the business and I felt as though I had let him down and to this day I remember his exact words to me . He said
" Son, I am NOT disappointed in you, in fact I am so very proud of you "
I said
" what do you mean Dad, why would you be proud of me, Im a failure"
He put his hands of both sides of my head and looked right into my eyes and into my soul and said
" Im so proud of you son because you tried, you had an idea , you put everything you had into it and you failed , who cares? But at least you tried. Don't ever be one of those guys who sits on the sidelines saying " I could have " or " I should have"
He went on to say
" I would much rather lose a bunch of money investing in 10 businesses you failed at than watching you do nothing and not trying at all because your to afraid to fail . Nobody has ever become financially successful without failing but the only way to become successful is that you have to learn why you failed so let's talk about why this one failed and make sure you learn and grow from it. Cant be more proud of you for trying "
One day I asked him
" Dad where does your support for me come from when it comes to my business ideas ?"
And he said
" I was a young man and had this idea to open a small diner on the Redondo Beach pier. Since I was a fisherman out of Pedro I had great connections on seafood and could serve the freshest seafood in the South Bay. The fish I could serve my customers would have been caught within the last 24 hours. And to save money I was going to use the nets from the boats that were discarded for decor and any other items I could find down at the docks. " " So I had this amazing idea and I asked my Dad if I could talk to him after dinner about my idea and his Dad said casually " Sure"
" So with great enthusiasm after dinner me and my Dad headed to the couch where I explained my diner idea to him and my Dad said " Son that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard and didn't want to discuss it any further"
My Dad told me that when his Dad said that it devastated him and crushed his soul and that he NEVER wanted me to have that same feeling he had that his father was not there to support him or his ideas.
Well my Dad got his real estate license , sold his 1st deal which was small, borrowed some money from some gangsters and opened Tonys Diner on a shoe string budget. Opened with 5 tables and a small bar and the rest is history my friends. So support your kids and there ideas because them knowing that they have their Dad's support is priceless and tell them it's ok to fail but don't allow failure to keep them from trying. YOU HAVE TO KEEP TRYING DONT EVER GIVE UP.
Tony Jr
