Business Brink

(This is me walking up to the starting line in Moab)

Running a 1/2 marathon was one of the most challenging (mentally and physically) I've ever done in such a short period of time. Going back to my previous post, there is much to learn from committing to doing something difficult and reach your goal. In this case, my goal was to simply finish.

Now that it's done, my eyes are now set on not just finishing another 1/2 marathon, but improving on my time. I finished my first full year of running my own business full time back in October 2007. I completed my goal and now I'm not just looking to make it another year, but to take it to the next level (financially, processes, services, etc.).

There were times during the 1/2 marathon when I had to stop and walk. My body just wasn't prepared enough. Sometimes you need to "walk" in other aspects of life, too. Just don't get used to walking, as it will take you forever to get to where you want to go.

I've recently taken up running... partly because I have to prepare myself to run a 1/2 marathon in the beginning of March. I've never been a runner and one of my friends asked me if I wanted to run a 1/2 marathon in Moab, UT -- I've never been to Moab and I've never run a 1/2 marathon, so how could I say now?!

There are some very positive things I'm getting from my training that I find to be helpful as I strive to build my business. Here are a few:

- it's great for clearing the mind
- it teaches commitment skills (there are moments when you tell yourself, "hey, just walk for a minute... catch your breath..." but if you resist the temptation and keep running, there is a great feeling of accomplishment and confidence waiting at the end of your run)
- it's good for the body (obviously)

Just like when I'm running, it's easy when you're trying to start a company to seek easier routes, or, dare I say, give up. Don't do it. Resist. And I don't mean that changing your course is giving up... sometimes things don't work out as planned and it's important to be able to detect this and adapt accordingly. I'm just saying don't ever give up on trying your best to use your talents to become the best person (entrepreneur, friend, father, husband, boss, employee) that you can be.

I recently had an experience where I was invited (and hired) to help a new start-up to build a brand. During the course of trying to nail down a business name, another consultant (and friend of mine) took offense to my blunt opinions about how to come up with a good business name. As a result, he recently declared to me that he wants nothing to do with me. I was sad to hear this, and I'm still trying to figure out how business discussions and opinions got so personal to call off a friendship.

So, the downfall of opinions is that you're going to hurt someone if you give your honest opinion, whether you like it or not. It has been like this for opinions since the beginning of time. And the stronger your opinions, the more hot and cold people become towards you, I'm finding.

So is it worth it to give your honest opinion? I suppose it depends... if your wife asks you if you like a chair that she's in love with, don't crush her happiness by telling her that you don't like it (it's better to soften it by saying it's not your favorite but it makes you happy that she loves it so much). But if you're doing business and success depends on doing the best you can, you need to give your honest opinion, and be flexible to adapt to others' opinions if it make more sense. In retrospect, I wonder if I could have communicated more clearly to him that I wasn't out to "get him" in the least when I gave my opinions.

Unfortunately in this case, an opinion about business turned into something personal. My friend made up his mind that I was trying to hurt him, when, in reality, I was simply doing what the client was paying me to do... give my honest opinion.

After some careful brainstorming and planning, I decided to name my new company Brandistry. This will be the company that replaces the old Zoom Agent. My next podcast episode will probably talk a little bit about choosing this name, however here are a few reasons why I chose Brandistry:

(in no particular order)

1) one word name
2) on top of the alphabet (for directory listings)
3) says more about what my business does (brand management)
4) matching domain (I highly recommend having your domain match your business name)

I am in the process of changing my business name from Zoom Agent to _______________! The blank is because I still don't know yet what I will name it. There are several reasons for the change and I am documenting that for future episodes on my podcast. In future episodes I'll discuss the process of coming up with a business name, things to look for, to do and not do, etc.

Gotta focus on figuring out the name.

Have you ever had an experience where at the end you said, "how do they do that?!" - maybe it was an incredible desert from a restaurant, or a creative sculpture. Maybe it was an elaborate home theater you've seen in a magazine or a birthday cake with frosting that looks like dinosaurs. What ever it was, I'd like for you to think about that experience...

The "how did they do that" is the very product magicians offer to their crowds. Sure, they offer entertainment, but I'm talking more specifically here. People watch them and expect to feel amazed. Most businesses, on the other hand, are not offering the same product. Although you could argue some businesses don't need to think this way, I would suggest that more of us should. We should think more like magicians about our service or product. And for businesses that offer products that are more of a commodity, think of how you can make the experience itself magical.

As business owners, we should be creating products, services, etc. for our customers that leaves them thinking, "how did they do that?!"

So I just got word that the Business Brink podcast is on a Top 100 Entrepreneur Podcasts list (I'm #4)! Now I'm feeling motivated to live up to this by getting back on track to post episodes more regularly.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

For those of you wondering about working at your desk on an exercise ball, here's my candid feedback:

Pros
- my lower back and the back of my legs feel much better after sitting on it for several weeks (felt a difference in the first week)
- the height (at least to my desk) is about the same as a normal chair
- I'm more likely to use my core (i.e. abs and back) more than I would if I were sitting
- makes me think of how funny it was when Jim stabbed Dwight's exercise ball in one of the episodes from The Office
- there's much less temptation to fall rest at my desk, however sitting on it doesn't
- I mentally feel a little less lazy compared to sitting on a normal chair all day
- it's a lot less expensive than an office chair

Cons
- can't swivel like a normal chair when someone comes in my office
- I usually have to wear shoes or slippers to keep from slipping
- sometimes I'll look over at my leather couch and want to sit on that (I do when I have longer phone calls)
- it's a ball, so clearly it's not as comfortable as a good chair or couch would be

I recently received an email from a viewer/reader from Greece. Towards the end of the email, Anestis asks me how my blood pressure is and closes by saying, "Health is also and asset you know..."

These are wise words and I couldn't agree more. I'm not as healthy as I should be, however I'm happy to report that I have started to work out at a local gym in the mornings. And believe it or not, my back feels much better after I traded in my leather office chair for an exercise ball (looks like Dwight from The Office was right after all).

I told myself about six months ago that I'd do something big to celebrate my one year anniversary for Zoom Agent... so much for that! October 1st was actually the one year mark for being off on my own and although I didn't do anything big to celebrate, I'm still very happy to have crossed that line.

I'm really looking forward to this new year. I'm ramping up to get my business to a point where I can hire a good team (at least one designer and one developer). It's so overwhelming to think about hiring people. I'm ready to do it quite yet, but I'm getting there and suspect I'll be able to do it sometime in 2008. It's daunting to think of the responsibilities I'll have for not just myself but for employees as well. The particular challenge I'm faced with is WHEN to do it. I need to hire people to be able to grow my business how I'd like, however this will add more burden and bring new challenges. If any of you three readers have any advise on signs I should be looking for to be able to hire people, please don't hold back.

Thanks.

I feel like I've really been held hostage by my work lately. I apologize to the three of you that actually ready this blog... okay, so maybe there's really only two of you. Three just sounded better.

Anyway, I've really been blessed with some good work recently and it's caused me to not be able to make the time as easily to post more episodes. However, as I get adjusted to everything I'll put some good episodes out there. And since I'm working on several "makeovers" with clients, I'll have one of the episodes take you through the steps I take to take a company's current identity to the next level.

One (small) thing I'm doing to help get out of the bonds of work is to make all Fridays 1/2 days for work. This forces me to make sure I have things in order to be able to take the afternoon off. It's actually hard to take time off work, but I think I'll learn to get used to it somehow.

Ever feel like you're held hostage by the business you've started up? I certainly do. My friend Shrage pointed me to some pretty powerful videos on youtube that talk about this very topic. Eben Pagan founded a training program for entrepreneurs called Altitude Training Program.

Watch the videos on youtube