Bootstrapping it- Tales of a Small Business Start-Up

I'm a pretty transparent guy- don't have any hangups about talking with people about money and expenses, etc. I've been in the throes of a start up for the last several months, and all my friends know it- it's pretty much all I talk about. Recently a buddy (Paul Shih) said "why don't you blog on this, it'd probably be helpful to others considering a new business."

So here it is, if it's helpful, thank Paul; if it's not, blame Paul.

Let me first begin with some recent surprises. I purchased some signage from a similar business owner in an effort to save money. The signs I bought were L.E.D. lit channel lettered signs- about 2 ft by 13 ft. Retail I'd be looking at around $2800 installed.

So I figure a great offer for a used sign would be $1000. She accepts without much thought, and I hang up thinking I just scored a great deal. I felt great until I called Foress Signs to get a bid to move the signage and re-install at the new office.

Turns out they bill at $115 per hour and they suspect it will take around 7 1/2 hours. Well there's another $862.50. Unfortunately the costs continue to mount. Rules for the shopping center my new office is located at stipulate that the "raceway" (the backing of the sign) matches the color of the building. Too bad, as now the raceway has to be painted- another $270. But unfortunately it still doesn't end there. Above and beyond all of this, I've got to get permits from the City, totalling another $125 or so dollars.

So how much are those signs actually going to cost me? Let's see:

$1000 - great deal for used sign
$862.50- installing great deal
$270- painting the great deal
$125- buying off the City
Total cost:$2257.50

Okay, so still a good deal, maybe not a screamer like I'd planned though. $1200 is a lot of dough when you're starting a small business. Actually it's payroll for one of my part time employees for a month. Ouch.

Stay tuned for another installment.

Cheers

Lily at Wildcat

I like this picture a lot. I did a bit of editing on it- upped the contrast and saturation a bit and sharpened the image. I like the lines that the rubberized ropes add. A fun picture and a cute girl.

Spontaneous Community...a Twitter experience

I'm becoming enamored with Twitter. And yet, now a hundred tweets into it, it leaves me wanting more. Or maybe I just wonder what it could really be good for.

A little over a year ago Rebecca Badger, along with myself and 4 or 5 others started Young Professionals of Corvallis. We're now up to almost 300 "members" and regularly have 50-70 people come to our monthly Happy Hour events. It's been great to see young pros from all over the valley connect- people from a lot of different circles of friends. Unfortunately, it feels like now, all of us have a " young pro's circle of friends" now. Meaning, apart from our monthly events, we largely remain disconnected.

This afternoon, I was heading to the Downward Dog to meet some other young pros and to interview a potential board member. With the steering wheel in one hand, and my LG voyager in the other, I hastily tweeted my destination. Why? I had this utopian vision of one of my followers having some free time and hopping in the car to join us at the pub. Wouldn't it have been an interruption? Of course not, or I wouldn't have tweeted it in the first place. Now no one showed up(besides the ones I'd planned on). But I still dream.

One of the trends I've seen, and it's a result of social media's rise, is people blending their personal and professional lives into just, life. This is new for our generation. (the current 20 somethings) We've gotten tired of the inauthentic rhythm of putting on our work hat and then going home and putting on our family hat. At some level, we like the thought of just being and letting things fall where they may.

I like this trend- I think it leads to more genuine business relationships. In fact, I think we need more of it. In this internet era, we can't stop at simply watching the digital ticker tape of what people are up to and what they're blogging. There's a new opportunity in all this to connect, more often, and in a more unscripted, spontaneous way.

Imagine this, I'm at a young pro's or chamber event. I meet another cool business person and later I start following them on Twitter. A few days later I see them tweet that they're going to see Reefer Madness playing at the Majestic on Friday. Great idea. I get a sitter and take my wife. We run into said business person, I meet his/her spouse and we end up enjoying a nightcap at Magenta after the show. Now all of a sudden, instead of a "business" contact, I have just a contact, or... maybe even a friend.

This could actually play out in Corvallis- we're the perfect community to lead in this new medium. How rich would that be to have that kind of interconnectedness in our community?