Round 1 Development...Over...Round 2 Operations...Beginning
I spoke last night to members of the Business Builders Club...I used to be a member myself, and I still am one at heart! It was a great show with a sold out crowd, of course! I basically went through my background and how I got where I am today. So I thought it was about time I did a little refresher to kick things off again for the next phase in this crazy business start-up rollercoaster ride.
It all started two years ago in a marketing class. Well I'll go way back. My interest in business goes back to when I was about 5 years old. One of my chores was to pick up acorns in both the front and back yard so my parents could mow. Of course it was not an appealing proposal....fill buckets with acorns for hours. But I had to spin it positively, so I started selling acorns out of our driveway. I used our large oak tree in the front yard as a model of what the acorn could grow to become, for only 5 cents! Well I sold a few, but I am by no means independently wealthy yet!
That was my first exploration into the realm of entrepreneurship. Over the next few years there was a variety of different "businesses" I started. From a miniature golf course in the basement, to a fun house, a boxing ring, and a movie theatre (which I suppose was illegal, but we didn't have any paying customers show up). The mini golf course was actually pretty sweet! We had 18 holes in the basement. My inspiration came from an organization I was a part of with my father, Indian Guides. This organization was basically a little club put on by the YMCA for fathers and sons. We would do different outdoorsy things as well as indoor sports, one of which was indoor miniature golf. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I wanted to create my own course. We did get quite a few paying customers, the only problem was the adults couldn't really fit b/c I was probably like 9 years old when I built the course so everything was really small.
Then around the age of 13 I began writing down my business ideas. Some of them actually came to fruition. I kept this journal throughout my adolescents and I still have it to this day. One of my ideas for instance was the online grocery store and we'd deliver to your house. Well there was such a thing but most of the web grocers shut down with the end of the dot com era. But it was a glimpse at the possibilities.
So none of these ideas were ever really good enough to go after. Even more important none of my ideas had anything to do with what I am passionate about. Passion is the key to being successful in anything. Without passion you'll never make it. This was the majority of my speech last night. If I wasn't passionate about Pesto and what I am doing I would have said forget it when I had to stay up all night cooking pasta. If I wasn't passionate about Pesto I would have thrown in the towel when any issue arose. I would have quit when I was turned down by every bank in Columbus, Ohio or rejected by investor after investor. I wouldn't have dedicated the past two years of my life to making the Pesto dream a reality. Anybody can do what I did...if they are willing to work hard.
I know tons of people with great ideas but they are all bark and no bite. When it comes time to take action they turn and run the other way. I don't think people fail to go after their dreams just b/c of the risks, I think there is also a fear of having too work hard. I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine and we both think that many people are just afraid to work hard. Yeah you have to work your ass off to make your dream a reality, that's why so few achieve their dreams. But man would you rather spend your life making someone else rich, or make some sacrifices, work your ass off and spend your life making yourself rich. And not just monetarily rich but living a rich and fullfiling life.
So throw those hiccups at me, throw obstacles in my way...they will fuel the fire and continue to make me show you this thing is going to fly and I'll do anything it takes.
That is why I am going to make a tremendous effort to keep my blog up to date. I'll continue the story tomorrow, but for now it's back to work. Go Big or GO HOME!
It all started two years ago in a marketing class. Well I'll go way back. My interest in business goes back to when I was about 5 years old. One of my chores was to pick up acorns in both the front and back yard so my parents could mow. Of course it was not an appealing proposal....fill buckets with acorns for hours. But I had to spin it positively, so I started selling acorns out of our driveway. I used our large oak tree in the front yard as a model of what the acorn could grow to become, for only 5 cents! Well I sold a few, but I am by no means independently wealthy yet!
That was my first exploration into the realm of entrepreneurship. Over the next few years there was a variety of different "businesses" I started. From a miniature golf course in the basement, to a fun house, a boxing ring, and a movie theatre (which I suppose was illegal, but we didn't have any paying customers show up). The mini golf course was actually pretty sweet! We had 18 holes in the basement. My inspiration came from an organization I was a part of with my father, Indian Guides. This organization was basically a little club put on by the YMCA for fathers and sons. We would do different outdoorsy things as well as indoor sports, one of which was indoor miniature golf. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I wanted to create my own course. We did get quite a few paying customers, the only problem was the adults couldn't really fit b/c I was probably like 9 years old when I built the course so everything was really small.
Then around the age of 13 I began writing down my business ideas. Some of them actually came to fruition. I kept this journal throughout my adolescents and I still have it to this day. One of my ideas for instance was the online grocery store and we'd deliver to your house. Well there was such a thing but most of the web grocers shut down with the end of the dot com era. But it was a glimpse at the possibilities.
So none of these ideas were ever really good enough to go after. Even more important none of my ideas had anything to do with what I am passionate about. Passion is the key to being successful in anything. Without passion you'll never make it. This was the majority of my speech last night. If I wasn't passionate about Pesto and what I am doing I would have said forget it when I had to stay up all night cooking pasta. If I wasn't passionate about Pesto I would have thrown in the towel when any issue arose. I would have quit when I was turned down by every bank in Columbus, Ohio or rejected by investor after investor. I wouldn't have dedicated the past two years of my life to making the Pesto dream a reality. Anybody can do what I did...if they are willing to work hard.
I know tons of people with great ideas but they are all bark and no bite. When it comes time to take action they turn and run the other way. I don't think people fail to go after their dreams just b/c of the risks, I think there is also a fear of having too work hard. I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine and we both think that many people are just afraid to work hard. Yeah you have to work your ass off to make your dream a reality, that's why so few achieve their dreams. But man would you rather spend your life making someone else rich, or make some sacrifices, work your ass off and spend your life making yourself rich. And not just monetarily rich but living a rich and fullfiling life.
So throw those hiccups at me, throw obstacles in my way...they will fuel the fire and continue to make me show you this thing is going to fly and I'll do anything it takes.
That is why I am going to make a tremendous effort to keep my blog up to date. I'll continue the story tomorrow, but for now it's back to work. Go Big or GO HOME!
posted by Lee Shadle at 9:27 PM
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