Well, that was a little unnerving.

I mentioned yesterday that I was attending a concert in Dallas and that I had VIP meet-and-greet tickets.

When I arrived, the only parking was next door, and I could choose between self-parking (which was completely flooded because of massive rain the previous day) or valet.

I normally don't mind paying for valet, but I wanted to be able to access my car so I could put my VIP merchandise in it before the show, and it's difficult to access your car when you've used valet parking.

So I made the fateful decision to look for another place to park.

Now before you criticize me: I already know about private property and that I was in the wrong.

But for those of you in Dallas who might know the area, the event was held at the Echo Lounge and Music Hall, and as I drove along the road looking for other options I came across the Dallas Design Center, a complex containing a series of stores related to interior design.

Nobody is even going to notice if I leave my rental car here, I thought, and it's nowhere near busy enough that my space would deprive a potential customer of a place to park.

So park there I did, and headed up to the venue.

And it was great. I met and bantered with the band, got some neat merch, and had my picture taken.

I headed back to the ol' Dallas Design Center to drop my stuff off at the car, and...

...giant metal gates had been closed, trapping my car in the lot.

It was what I deserved, but that wasn't how I saw things at the time.

What would I do?

There were signs everywhere about no overnight parking, the lot was monitored 24/7, and unauthorized vehicles would be towed.

They were even considerate enough to include the number to call if your car had been towed.

Surely there must be another way in and out of this place. There were easily five other vehicles in there. Were we all trapped?

So I walked the perimeter of the place -- which is absolutely enormous, so it took a while -- and everything was gated and locked.

I had to fly back the next morning (i.e., today). I would not have time to deal with a towed rental car.

So after discussing the matter with my mildly amused wife, who felt sure I would not be towed, I began to think: these people are bluffing. They are not monitoring the parking lot of the Dallas Design Center 24/7.

This morning at 8:00am was the moment of truth.

I arrived at the Dallas Design Center in an Uber.

The gates were open.

And there was my car, untouched.

I had had a bit of luck, dear friend.

Now this is, I will concede, rather a long preamble to rather a mundane lesson, but here it is: luck is nice, but don't rely on it.

You can indeed build a profitable membership business that removes that knot of worry from your stomach forever, but don't leave it to chance.

Let me help you.

You can call me (for an hour) or text me (for up to two months) for help, and I'll also send you a bunch of my own traffic to convert into members for you.

Sound good?

Then check out Stu McLaren's rapidly concluding workshop series and I'll give you more details soon:

https://www.tomwoods.com/stuworkshop

Tom Woods