Will you look at that? In just 5 short days, these veggie seeds I planted on Saturday have sprouted! And while I had no intention of directly linking this activity to my new venture, there is a connection. It’s sprouting too! I’ve had a great first week of making connections and test-running my new product. It’s received a great response and I think I have some “takers”. More than a few meetings from that stack of business cards – even if I only convert two of those meetings in to clients – that’s a good success ratio for me.  I can’t wait to share my idea with all of you next week! One of you already guessed it – thanks Joel Oine for not telling the world!

These little seedlings are fragile, and growing perilously fast.  You gardeners know, the issue at this stage – they get so tall (or leggy) so quickly, the stem actually collapses under the weight of the new sprout.  Next week, I’ll need to go through with a small pair of scissors and cull out the weak sprouts. That’ll give the healthiest the best chance of flourishing.

Sounds a lot like business doesn’t it? With finite resources of a single person start-up, there are only so many leads that I can invest real time into. Eventually, I’ll be able to tell if a lead will result in a revenue opportunity, or if the person I just met was being “nice” and offering to meet with me.  I’ll need to narrow down my audience eventually to make sure I’m not parsing out my time too much.  There’s a lot of curiosity and demand for information on the service that I’m offering – but the real question is can I turn that into enough cash to make a living? I have developed a model, but I am far from being able to prove it out.  Give me 60 days and I’ll be able to tell you if THIS big idea from the little box of ideas is a winner. In the meantime, it’ll take about that long for these seedlings to turn into food.

I swear, I did not set this up to be such a direct metaphor. But now that it is – you’ll get to know these plants over the summer! We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, we’ll rejoice together – you, me and these plants.  Some won’t make it through, and others will thrive and feed my family well.  When you next hear from me, I’ll be spilling the beans on my business – I’m sure you are all on pins and needles (NOT!)

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

In all of my 30 years of corporate life, I’d guess that I’ve handed out no more than 200 business cards. That’s an average of – 6.4 cards per year.  In fact, the last time my job title changed in “Big Blue Boxville”, I didn’t even bother getting them reprinted!  All of my clients were internal, and on the rare occasion that I did meet with external contacts, they already had my information. I recently cleaned out archaeological grade boxes from jobs I’d left in those three decades, and found no less than 6 boxes of business cards from various jobs. Barely touched. For some reason, I felt I was being wasteful by throwing the away. Or I thought maybe I’d pose as a Training Manager for a big bank one day…. Either way, you’ll be happy to know I pitched them without a blink!

Here’s the crazy part – In the last 24 hours, I’ve handed out more than 50 of my shiny new cards to interested parties! And likely 20-30 more tomorrow! I had no idea the networking opportunities would actually multiply like bunnies the way they are – I guess my gut last week was telling me that I needed to be really ready for this point – and I’m thankful I listened! Today was another opportunity to practice my pitch – and believe it or not, I have two really hot leads from it – both already have meetings set up next week.

The venue today? A Davanni’s in a big SW Suburb. The group? A local business networking group. You could call them “Referrals are us.” I’m suspect about their structure, as I think it will eventually turn into an ask for membership dues… but for now – I’ll take the practice and the exposure. And the opportunity to put my card in the hands of people who might be interested in my new venture. I may join and pay the dues just to see how this works!

Even more incredible – I now have this stack of about 60 business cards from my recent meetings!  I need to do something with them; It’s been forever since I’ve had a rolodex, or a card filing system.   And the thought of typing contact information into a contact database, of course, makes me want to gouge my eyeballs out with a dull pencil.

What’s that you say? There’s an app for that?

Darn tootin’ there’s an app – there are at least 10 that are highly rated! I’m looking through the ratings on them right now, and in a perfect world, I’d take a pic of the card with my phone and it would OCR it right into my contact list. At least that’s what I’m aiming for…. Then the real test of faith in technology comes. For all of these cards I’ve collected – will I throw them away? Or will I hold onto them like precious little momentos of my first couple of weeks in business for myself?

And before you ask  – I’m still not going tell you what I’m up to until next week. But here’s what I can tell you – in case you are worried that I’m in some kind of crazy money making scheme – the business I’ve started was my own idea, not a franchise. I’m not selling anything in the form of cleaning products, nutritional supplements, candles, cosmetics, food storage containers, shakes, juices, baskets, decorative items, investment products or the like. Is Herbalife even around anymore?

Until next week, you can keep guessing! Go ahead – see if you can play CSI with the picture of my business cards at the top. If you figure it out – I’ll buy you a coffee!  Now, I’m off to find an app that makes sure I can capture the contact information for the three versions of lifecoaches that I met today – along with the insurance guy, the CPA, the banker, the broker and the candlestick maker.

Good news friends! Today’s “Opportunity” went off without a hitch – I have a couple of warm/hot leads, met some great people and have already set up a couple of follow-up meetings!  I managed to get through my introduction, handing

out business cards and making my pitch without any coffee, soup or dessert issues. And I wore shoes that match each other, so that was also a win! (This all probably only makes sense if you read yesterday’s blog)

With the warm reception I’ve received so far this week, I’ve decided to “go public” with this idea on Monday, May 2nd! Stay tuned for more details on what this big idea is shaping up to be!

Thank you all for your support in the last few days- your words of encouragement mean so much to me! While my darling husband is truly the president of my Fan Club, cheers from my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn friends help me along this path!

 

Today marks the beginning of the third week of this new venture – and I am still so very grateful for the opportunity I have. But friends, I’m also a feeling a little tapped out. As I wrote late last week, I’ve been pushing to hit my own self imposed deadline so that I can make a good impression on my potential target market tomorrow at a luncheon. Here’s the great news –Thanks to a weekend of uninterrupted work time, I’ve checked all of the “must have things” off of my to-do list.

• Website – Check (Although not perfect, it’ll work for now)
• Logo- Check
• Social Media Sites of various flavors – Check
• Business Cards – Check
• Brochure – Check
• Sales Pitch – Check

Now, the only thing that may be standing in my way of successfully marketing this idea is spilling tomato soup on my shirt. Well, that and they may not like what I have to offer. But I’ll focus on not spilling the soup, since I can control that.

I know, intelligent readers, you understand what each of those “checks” represent. Several hours of work (mostly by myself, although I called a pro to help me with the logo)… lots of the work is both tedious and brain draining at the same time. Creating something from quite literally nothing, pulling that out of your imagination through your fingers onto a computer screen – into something that seems remotely marketable – that’s hard work!

Since I had three straight days of solitude in which to accomplish all of this (Seriously, I didn’t leave my house and yard from Thursday afternoon until I picked up my husband at the airport last night), I can now report on the inside scoop of working exclusively at a home office. As I’m sure you’ve read – there are pros and cons.  I love the feeling of being in complete control of my schedule. I can work on what I want, when I want. 3:00 AM? Sounds like a great time to open an Instagram account. 9:00 PM? It’s a perfect time to design my business cards and send them off to the printer. I guess I don’t really need that much sleep – seems like 5 hours a night was all I can seem to focus on these days. That’s right – I need focus to actually sleep.

Here’s the truth about this idea of Entrepreneurism, especially in the start up phase. You are never NOT working. NEVER.  While my mind is no longer racing at 100MPH – it’s always moving – never quiet – always full of colorful images. It’s like being on stimulants, but completely natural. It’s so very energizing! Except for when your body tells you – enough. Stop typing. Stop writing. Stop texting, posting, tweeting, drawing.  Time to relax. Because you only have yourself to blame if something doesn’t get done (Which I love!), I just keep going. I’m like the little engine that could. This is an over developed skill for me – I can just churn out work for hours at a time if I can concentrate and am properly motivated. My body really does give out before my mind does. What a great problem to have, right?

Here are some tips that some highly productive and professional work at homers have given me – perhaps you have more for me!

• Hygiene still matters. Bathe every day, brush your teeth and comb your hair. Rolling out of bed and starting to work in your pajamas may sound like a dream, but I can attest to the fact that you tend to just stay in your PJ’s all day and then eventually crawl back into bed. You do that more than two days in a row, and you can imagine the issue there.
• Along the same lines – wear real clothes – preferably CLEAN. Clothes with buttons, zippers and ties. Choose your clothes from a hanger or a drawer – not from the perennial pile of stuff that be washed (See #1)
• Put shoes on EVERY DAY. Even if you don’t need to. Slippers don’t count. Flip flops don’t really count either. Oh – and they need to match each other – no mismatches! Shoes will help you with the next one:
• GET UP AND WALK AROUND! Yes- that’s me shouting. This past Sunday – I was horrified to look at my fitbit at 6:00pm and see that I had only taken 1,250 steps. You read that right. I had at least done some yardwork on Saturday; Sunday was too rainy to do any garden tours – I didn’t even go and get the paper from the front door. There could have been a Purple hippo hanging out in my front yard and I wouldn’t have noticed. If “Sitting is the new smoking”, I’ll be dead from butt cancer before I get my first client.
• Don’t forget to eat. Now – if you know me you’d say – not possible – Jenny loves to cook and enjoy a good meal. True. But left to my own devices, I’ll eat a Lean Cuisine every day for a month if it’s fast and hassle free. These days, I eat breakfast after working for a couple of hours, consumed lunch when I remembered, around 2 or 3.  Dinner usually was around 7 or 8. It’s like I’m back in college.
• Make sure you have a recycling bin and a garbage can in your work area/office. I was amazed at how quickly the diet coke cans line up. Like little support pods of caramel coloring and fake sugar. When I’ve made my way through a pot of coffee, I average a can of diet coke every two hours and doesn’t stop until dinner. I promised I was going to take them downstairs to the big recycling bin… yep – that didn’t happen.
• Tear yourself away from the computer. Look outside, pet the dog, touch some dirt and nature. Talk to a stranger. Your body and brain will thank you.  Don’t pick up your phone and use that as your computer’s surrogate!
• Lastly and most importantly if you live in a quiet neighborhood and have no other humans in your house, don’t let the quiet overwhelm you. I swear that for about three hours on Sunday, I was working in a space capsule floating just above the atmosphere. A radio on in another room helped me get over that creepy feeling fast.

I know this phase of my business venture won’t last forever. Before I can count to 100, I’ll have emails and phone calls to return, proposals to write and all sorts of outside stimulation. But for right now – this is the longest period of sustained isolated lock-down I have ever been in. I have a lot to show for it – I’m ready to take advantage of this opportunity! As long as I don’t show up, business cards in had, sales pitch memorized and promptly fall asleep in my bowl of soup!

 

Who said this blog has to be allllll business? Not me!! Here’s the truth- in the very core of my being, I am a gardener. The idea of sitting in my office on such a gorgeous day certainly does not appeal! 

I’m a little late in starting the seeds inside because here in Minnesota, we usually plant a veggie garden the weekend of Mother’s Day.  Planting them this late doesn’t give them the full benefit of a sunny window in the spring time. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try! Why purchase the seeds and little pellets and let them sit there with the hope andpromise that I’ll get to it next spring?  Procrastination nation! 

I’m going try to start them and see what happens! What’s the worst that could happen? My tomato plants and broccoli plants don’t bear fruit according to the schedule on the package? I’m OK with that. Because sometimes things just don’t happen on schedule. I’m more interested in them happening eventually! 

Stay tuned to for the saga that is my veggie garden!

Opportunity minus 4 days! As anticipated, I have been plugging away at the tasks I need to get ready for this “epic” opportunity I have next week. OK – epic might be overstating it. But it’s epic enough that I need to organize my chaotic thoughts about all of the work.  One of the few things I miss about working in Cubeville (aside from all of my BFFAW’s and the SpecialK bars from the cafeteria every Wednesday) is I could ALWAYS find a whiteboard that I could use to empty my brain of disorganized thoughts.  I invested in a 4ft X 3ft whiteboard from a cool used office furniture store in Northeast Minneapolis, but I can’t really justify the investment in more! Not to mention – eventually you need to erase a whiteboard for it to be really serviceable. The idea of all those thoughts now smeared on that nasty dry marker eraser makes me sad. Yes, I took pics of them with my cellphone, but it was never the same as being able to have them stare back at me – demanding my attention morning, noon and night! Once these moments of brilliance hit my photo stream, it’s like they were dead to me. So I knew I had to find a non-permanent, low cost way of capturing the ideas, then making sure they recaptured my attention.

Earlier this week, I happened to spot these GIANT Post-it notes at Target, and grabbed some on impulse. Since then, I’ve used them to literally line my home office walls with ideas, sketches, flow charts, brainstorming lists, to do lists.  I guess I’m a visual learner and thinker; I respond to the stimulation of the written word. Maybe because I was an avid reader as a child?  I knew this accelerated timing would require a new way of satisfying this need – and I’m thankful for 3M and their designers for accommodating me!

 

So, aside from my wallpapering the office with these beauties, I’ve also spent quite a bit of time putting together a website for this new venture (you can see the wireframe up on the wall). I would say “DESIGN” but it’s clear after this exercise that in fact, I am NO Designer! I’ll chalk that up to needing overly developed powerpoint slide deck building skills  and how it must have stunted my creativity. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I’ve never had training of any kind for visual or graphic design.  But here’s the reality – I need a website by Tuesday.  I need it because I’ll be handing out business cards at the meeting – and what kind of a business card doesn’t have a website on it these days? Only those that were printed before 1994!

So – I rolled up my sleeves, put together a wireframe and found as much free (and high quality) photostock as I could that was relevant to the venture and started writing. And writing. And editing. And editing more.  And I finally pushed the “publish” button yesterday. And I’ve already made about 20 changes since then. So – rather than give up on the opportunity, I’m going to take the same advice I give to people all the time- don’t let perfect get in the way of excellence. And don’t let excellent get in the way of good.  I’ve promoted this idea as a way of combatting fear of starting – Doing something is always better than doing nothing!

As of right now – I think I can get close to halfway between good and excellent by the time that first business card hits the pocket of one of my future clients on Tuesday.  I’ll keep plugging away at it over the weekend and get some hard feedback when my trusted advisor (husband) and by the time I meet with people on Tuesday – It’ll be pretty darn good!

It’s time for me to get back on task and keep marking things off on my list. Next up is working on my “pitch” I wonder how many Big yellow post-it’s I’ll use for that process? I’m guessing at least three – Or maybe I should just erase my whiteboard and start with that. Oh my – isn’t that living dangerously?!

Please, let me explain. What if I told you, intelligent readers, that I have had an initial “Big Idea” selected and under development for a few months? Would you be disappointed? Unsubscribe? Unfriend and unfollow? I hope not! I would imagine most of you would say “Of course you do, Jenny. We all know your Mama Patsy didn’t raise a fool!” You are right, I almost always have something in my back pocket  – and I’ll never stop living by the Scout motto of “be prepared”.

The truth is that I’ve had this working model of an idea that’s been chewing at my mind for the past year. It’s also true that I’m not 100% sure that this is THE BIG IDEA – you know, the ONE. But it does meet all of my criteria so far – working with small business owners in my community, and it certainly is a growth industry.  So as I was wrapping up my time as an employee (of someone else), I used my off work hours to put my “start up” skills to the test. Slowly and methodically, I checked items off of the “to do list” that  I created on my white board for this business. I’d estimate that I’m a good 50% of the way through much of the big items on that list for this business. LLC is formed, domain names are secured, logo is under development, as is the website. So, a few of the big rocks are complete, and most are in some phase of development.

Why confess now? Because I have the amazing good fortune of a window of opportunity open right in front of my eyes and immediately.

Ok, My challenge is not THIS hard!  (Source: imgur/user/Bloodystupidjohnson)

I have the opportunity to get in front of my Target Market for this venture next Tuesday – an informal gathering and luncheon where if I play my cards right, I’ll be able to introduce myself and my venture and make a pitch to the room.  And after speaking to one of the organizers, the pump seems to be primed and my “product” is in demand by this group! That means I have SIX days to get the requisite tasks completed so that I can get in front of this group with confidence and start making connections that will to future revenue.  It’s the moment to answer some big questions:

 

• Do I take a risk and go to market with a good idea rather the THE BIG IDEA?
• Can I get enough of the work done in the next 6 days to be able to introduce myself and my product?
• Is the risk of going to market prematurely worth the potential reward of moving this idea into a revenue generating business?

If I chose to crawl through this window while it’s still open, the current BIG IDEA needs to come out of the box it’s been hiding in and into my field of focus. I mean laser focus. Six days is not a lot of time to bring something like this to market.

My Instinct is yelling right now – “GO GO GO! YES YES YES!  Seize the moment Jenny! Why think twice!?!?”

It’s not so much about fear  of failure – I expect to have setbacks. I expect to flop some of the time. I even expect to be summarily dismissed by some of my future clients. The last doesn’t scare me aI know that resistance is truly a sign that I have their attention and they are interested.

It’s not about fear of hard work, either. I’ve been successful in high pressure situations before.  I can muscle through work for 12 hours at a time if I am motivated. Nope, that’s not it.

Could it be… Fear of Success? The name of this blog is “Start to Succeed”. I selected that name to align with my belief that amazing people with great ideas aren’t successful because they don’t get past the ideation stage. They can’t move off the dime – they forget to actually start.  We like that brainstorming phase – it’s a super comfy place. Coffee shops and sticky notes and fun color markers. Meetings with cool people, sharing your dreams and ideas, and it’s all sunshine and rainbows. Endless blogs and articles to poor over and take notes about. Hundreds of Ted Talks that you should really absorb before you start. So much to do before you start.  WRONG!

KNOCK KNOCK, dear Jenny – the Universe is at the door with a message! This is a moment not to squander! While it’s no “moonshot” or a cure for cancer, it’s a big stretch for one person to execute in six days. So I reject any fear of failure, or fear of success while I brew another pot of coffee.  It’s time to spin up the grand-daddy of all to do lists and plunge into the work.

What do you think, intelligent readers? Can I get it all done?  Would you bet on me?

What’s that? I forgot to tell you all what my idea is?? Nope – I didn’t forget.  Remember, Mama Patsy didn’t raise a fool; I know not to show all my cards until I need to! Stay tuned for more on my progress through the next 6 days. And after I’ve checked all of my items off the to do list, and I’m ready to go public – you all will be the first to know!

 

 

 

It’s really happening. The reality of working for myself is settling in clearly now.

For all of my friends who make their living generally between the hours of 8:00AM and 5:00PM Monday through Friday – you know the feeling you get on Sunday afternoons. The feeling that in a few hours, your short break from work is over. The feeling that you hope your calendar isn’t too crammed with difficult conversations and tasks right away on Monday because you would rather sit with a cup of good coffee and organize your thoughts after having a wonderful weekend with family and friends. The feeling of steeling your heart as you wait for the inevitable politics to start diminishing your effectiveness. That feeling that you shoog Post!  uld have worked over the weekend to make it a better Monday than it has been lately.  I don’t know; maybe that was just how I felt on Sunday in the late afternoon.

We made a trip up to the cabin this past weekend – a nice long visit focused on construction of our little bunkhouse. Usually, as we drive back – that feeling creeps back into my consciousness and I avoid looking at my emails until we get home, unpacked, settled into Sunday Night television – just because I’m not ready.  Yesterday, when that impulse hit me, I realized the situation had changed. Instead of dreading the emails in my Inbox  – I grabbed my computer immediately when we got home Sunday afternoon and happily refreshed my inbox – and I was thankful to see correspondences from new contacts and former colleagues! The idea of being grateful to see new emails only reinforces that there is a different way of life out there for me.

Waking up to a completely free Monday was no less than liberating and soul lifting. A whole day where I choose activities that will bring me personal and professional value. It’s not about playing or being on vacation, it’s really about a new approach to earning a living.   Today, I chose to get on my scooter and cogitate on some Big Ideas I’ve had.

I bought this beauty a couple of years ago and have already put 2,000 miles on it. Not just going for fun rides, but for everyday errands, and to the office. I do that because it makes me happy and makes me feel connected to my community. This morning, I took my scooter on some errands and slowly made my way through my little town of Robbinsdale. I stopped in at local businesses that I had passed by in favor of a big box. I bought meat from Hackenmuellers Butcher Shop. I stopped and chatted with a customer from Paeonia Florist – he wanted to tell me about how much he liked riding a scooter when he was younger.

That’s the kind of stimulation I need to unlock the creative part of my brain. Meet new people, have conversations that are not driven by anything other than a willingness to chat. Nothing to gain or lose from anyone. While working in a large organization means you have lots of BFF’s, the chances of having a truly stimulating conversation with a complete stranger are very low.

The definition of success is changing for me. Instead of just going through the motions and scheduling the next meeting or creating the next slide that communicates complex information effectively, I’m thinking about impact to my neighborhood. How can I make my community a better place? Today’s scooter ride helped me focus on one of my big questions – who shall I serve? I parked in the garage feeling even more inspired than when I started my day. In fact,

I eagerly refreshed my inbox and found a few more notes from friends and contacts.

How cool is that for a different kind of Monday?  I’m sure it won’t always feel this fresh and this liberating. I know there will be plenty of hard work for me ahead and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to try. I can’t wait to see what this week holds in store for me!

 

 

 

 

While I’ve been chewing on THE BIG IDEA, I’ve started considering what comes the moment after I have that epiphany. It’s big stuff and it’s easy to get overwhelmed and intimidated by all the work I need to do. I joke with people when they ask me “What’s your secret to getting things done, Jenny?” (you’d be shocked at how frequently I get that question; I know I am shocked every time it happens).

My flip answer is: You can’t forget to start.  While that’s true – here is something else that’s true – you need to look at the long view before you actually start. Entrepreneurs spend a lot of their energy chasing down tasks because they haven’t looked at the long view.

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is West Wing. The writing was intelligent and made my brain dance a jig every week! A scene between President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) and his Sr. Communication Advisor Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) translates well to this topic. Both characters were chess players and it was a tool used by the writers to address strategy in politics. The details of the scene are unimportant; Bartlett states “look at the whole board” and then schools Sam on foreign policy. Of course, he then kicks Sam’s ass in chess.  Forgive me my television transgressions – but the point is simple.

Whether it’s opening a business, executing a project, or preventing a detente between China and Taiwan – it’s critical to look at the whole board before you start acting. Consider what tasks are critical and what sequence those should follow.  Here’s an example of what I’m facing right now…

Pretty overwhelming, right? Those are big chunks of work – most tasks can be broken down even farther into a mini-project plan. And in fact, that’s what I’ve started to do. Research is a big part of start up activity. So is a pro forma – although that’s in the works as well. Frankly, I ran out of white board for this exercise. I guess I’ll have to erase it all and write much smaller.

When I look at the whole board, I can start to draw a series of lines – what needs to come before and what comes after. While it’s clear that deciding on THE BIG IDEA should come first, would it surprise you that the company name step actually requires 3 or 4 of these other steps to be complete before hand?  Picking a name (or brand) for your business sounds like fun – but it’s complicated. The most expeditious route is to find an available domain name that’s not already registered as a trademark. More about that ridiculous process at a later time.

Bottom line – when you think you are ready to start something, pause and give yourself time to think. Time to consider dependencies, sequence and timing. If you have a finite set of hours to do something in, invest in a few moments to visualize what it’s going to take to get it done. I find great comfort in that visualization – it gives me confidence – like a dress rehearsal for an actor. Once I can see myself making the chess moves to get me to the end, I know I can focus on the other player.

Here’s the clip to that West Wing scene  – damn I miss smart television.

You must begin at the beginning, right?  For the most part, that’s right. It seems logical that the first step in starting up a business is to select your “BIG IDEA.” In other words, identify your product , your target market, your competition, and your unique value proposition.  Sounds like something straight outta the “How to become your own boss” handbook!  Some people actually have true epiphanies – they see a need in the market, or have a deep passion that they can somehow monetize and presto magico! Their big idea appears before them.

For those of us who are not prone to epiphanies, we have to muscle it out. That’s right – inspiration through brute force. Setting out to find your niche, you go through a process to answer the question What do I have to offer the world?

In my previous work, I’ve accomplished this by

locking myself in a room with a whiteboard and not coming out until I am either exhausted or finished. It’s quite daunting and might not give the best possible answer to a big question, but it gets the job done. In most of these situations, it was a solution to a big problem, rather than a big idea, but it’s still the same blank white board staring at you when you start!

 

Alternatively, you can sit in a field of daisies and day dream, go on a walk and cogitate, or hash through ideas while riding a stationary bike. Those are great beginning processes, however I find my moments of inspiration tend to be right at the most inopportune times, and I have no way to record them. I’ve done everything from pulling over and sending myself a text message or voicemail, to writing on my hand to promising myself that I’ll remember.  I have also bought special notebooks or journals to keep THE LIST.

This time, my process is a bit different. Still somewhat brute force, but allows for a little more natural flow.

Check out this box – my husband gave it to me as a “Good luck and kick ass on your new adventure” gift! (Isn’t he the sweetest guy ever?? ) In addition to being a wonderful gift and well designed by a cool company in New York, (@bestmadeco), it’s going to be my Little Box of Big Ideas. I keep a stack of blank notecards with me everywhere I go, including my night stand. While any scrap of paper will do, I do like a little order to minimize the chaos. Whenever I get an idea – big or small, I write it down and it eventually gets into the box. The box stays on my desk so I can’t misplace it.  Right now I have about 15 cards in the box – not all big ideas, but some may lead me down a path to a big idea. Some have ideas like Serve the community, mom and pop retailers, something to do with scooters, light blue and yellow. All fragments of what I want in this new adventure.

Once I get enough Potential Big Ideas, then I’ll start on the white board and muscle my way through to inspiration. But in the meantime, I’ll carry around index cards and a writing instrument with me everywhere I go to make sure I don’t miss my chance  – whether I’m having lunch with a friend, hiking, building a bunkhouse in Pine County or writing at a coffee shop.

Here’s the bottom line: Do whatever works for you to get your own Big Idea  – because no matter how hard you work, you need to be inspired by what you bring to market! If you aren’t in love with it – your customers won’t be either!