The Plan

This entry is going to be about the plan! The business plan. As I mentioned before, I was asked to help another create her dream on paper. The business plan is one tool that is used to transform an idea into reality. I suggest that you do a few things before starting your plan. Go to Google and research business plans, Youtube is also a great resource for learning. I will give you a great secret! SCORE. Whatever you are thinking it is not that! It is an organization that can help you. It also has some great templates that can be used to guide you. I have a business degree and we needed to do a business plan when I was in college but….. It is very different in REAL life. I started by downloading a business plan and then modified it to fit my personal needs. Now once you have done all this you need to start. Start typing editing and typing. You really just need to get it all down on paper and then modify it to meet your needs. It is OK to change you plan as you go. It is also OK and encouraged to do LOTS of research on your industry, or service. The more you know the better you will be. Do not try to copy another’s plan. That’s not your vision it is theirs. This is not homework, you are not being graded, it is your guide to how you want and need your business to run.

Major problem that people encounter! DO NOT spend your life on the plan. Many people never seem to finish the plan. That’s OK. You should and will never finish your plan. Your plan should evolve as you do. Your plan should never be finished. That being said, do a first, second and maybe even a third draft and then START. Your business is nothing until you put plan to action.

The business plan took me three months to write and get right, or as right as I could before needed to move to the next level.

So far I have been able to go from start to finish with the business in less than 6 months. That includes moving two homes and waiting for kids to get out of school. I think that is pretty good. I am sure I could do it in half the time now. No, I am positive!

Step out

Today I would like to share some important findings. When you start a business there are a lot if bureaucratic bullshit you will need to wade through. For instance, to open in Georgetown County South Carolina you need to first go to the water department. I found this out the hard way. There you will need to fill out paperwork and then wait to receive a certificate stating they can accommodate the water needed for your business. After that you will need to fill out zoning and sign paperwork! There is a lot…. So be patient. You will answer the same questions over and over. Once that is complete you will need a fire inspection and then you may be able to get your electricity. I have to admit I have worked with GREAT people! The problem is when starting out you will find out WHY people hate the government. Paperwork for paperwork, write a check something that was already written for many times previously. For example wouldn’t you think once a building sign was zoned and approved that it would be zoned and approved for as long as that sign existed? If you choose to change the front content maybe that would be cause for a review of content but not a rezoning of the whole thing! I mean do they rezone a billboard every time it is refaced? I highly doubt it. I also want you to understand that that list does not reflect the pain, time, miles driven, headaches, or any other adjective you can think of that may piss you off during the process!!!

During the whole process of doing all this I still have people asking me “what are you doing down there?”, “have you golfed, gone to the beach”. WHAT!!!! I am working my ass off, and when I am not working I am thinking about work. I am dealing with trying to stay positive for my wife’s sake. At least everyday she wants to give up before we have started. I know the feeling but need to block it out, believe in myself and the FAITH I am learning to believe in more and more.

Now, before I go on. I know that 99% of what I say will be interpreted 100% wrong. I mean I had a good childhood, the county of Georgetown has been very helpful at helping me wade through the work, my wife is great, and overall I am happy. I just am a very efficient person. I also speak what is on my mind (tactfully). But I know some readers are going to look and feel bashed. That’s now any part of this blog. I was informed yesterday that there was someone who wanted my advice. Advice how to get to where I am now! That made me feel great, I am honored to aid her in trying to achieve her dreams! People help me and I intend to help humanity.

I guess people do things for all different reasons. Some are valid good hearted reasons some are selfish and yet others are destructive. Look at the world we live in, look at the news broadcasts! Wow, scary. We all can make a difference, if you believe you may.

Alright, now back to work. I am an inpatient person. I want things yesterday, NOW. I detest inefficiency. Unfortunately, I am not in control of everyone! I need to wait. I sometimes wonder if it is my age, generation of makeup that makes me the way I am. Maybe it is all of the above. When you are starting a business you need to be patient. You need to build, think and plan. You wait for others to look over papers or the electric company to put on the power. You wait. I know I am going to have to wait to build, to make the pot of gold, but I still dream. I dream of overnight success. It is OK to dream, want and desire. It is OK to ask God for favor. He does not want you to squander your talents he has given you! The devil is fear, the devil holds you back, when you need to step, walk or run. Do your best and have faith is the right choice.

Live your life, your dream! Go get um!

The Beginning - Ndulge ~ Yourself

Ever want to do something, something that you may or may not be good at, but just need to do? Well, that is my blog. I am not the best writer, I am a horrible speller and probably worse with grammar. I am not writing this for any of you critical types that take pleasure in nitpicking others to make yourselves look better. The red Ferrari and the small penis adage!

This blog is dedicated to all people that desire something that others tell them they can not have, do or should not try! Some people grow up with support. Parents, care takers, guardians and such that tell them they are the BEST! They can do anything, they do no wrong! Well, that’s not me. I have dreamed all my life of running my own business, being independently successful and what have I gotten……. HA HA HA, maybe not said like that but that is defiantly the feeling! I do not give a shit what they would tell you I am telling you that I have a sixth sense for people. That is the aura that they omitted!

OK, well this is not a bashing blog. It is not one trying to get sympathy. It is to help others become as successful as they can be. It is a blog that is meant to help as many people as possible. I vowed that if I became successful that I would help as many others become as successful as they could. I am no where near the success I want to be but a am working everyday to get another step further. I am young, hungry, and possibly intelligent (don’t judge me on my writing abilities).

I will try to outline my life experiences, give advice when I can and document the most adventurous journey for me to date, starting a business!!!!!

Since graduating college I have been restless, not really knowing what to do. I graduated with a business major and IT minor. What a dumb degree. Why!!!! You ask? Because the world is huge and business is everywhere. When you are 21 and are trying to get a job you have no boundaries, the world is so huge it overwhelms and consumes you! A doctor or lawyer goes to their field. Me….. well, I wondered. I got my series 7, 66 and life insurance licenses (stock broker stuff) and did that for a few years. Got a bit bored, moved into the family medical business (not a story for today’s entry) moved to three more medical firms in 2 states (MA and SC) and then decided that even though I loved the medical industry I wanted my own show.

In the middle of all this, I married a southern belle and gained two step-children. My wife also in the medical field was traveling to very bad neighborhoods in Boston and truthfully worked for a complete moron. Can you say IDIOT! Again another story! So she got in a car accident, and that sent me over the edge! At the same time my family decided to sell their business (even though I had moved 900 miles to run it, and verbal insinuations of my takeover were spoken). My wife, Jennifer, and I decided to open a cupcakery!

Now, you must think I am NUTS!!!! Well, so did everyone (remember, the earlier paragraph on SUPPORT!) Ha, not much, I have to admit my father and step-mother seemed to believe in us more than ever, so….. that was nice but…… we had been planning potentially opening a cupcakery for months. I guess ever since I found out my mother was selling the business. I had written a business plan, done some homework but was chicken because the location we looked at needed to be built into a restaurant. That was something I had no idea how to do. One day I received a call that stated an adjacent property was available and had been an ice cream shop! That meant that there had been previously a food permit issued to that location. We decided overnight to go for it.

I have now traveled to South Carolina to start the initial business stuff, (permits, painting, getting our condo prepared for living not vacations). Jennifer is back home with the kids working on recipe combination's, packing and taking care of the kids. When school ends we will both be here. At that point we hope to have our home in MA rented (the money would help). Once both here, we will open and then begin another chapter in our lives.

So now that some of the back story had been told lets begin with the whole reason for the blog. To help another overcome their fear and start their dream. I once was told that you only reach 80% of your dreams. That means if you dream of someday having a million dollars you will only achieve eight hundred thousand! For some that may be great but that was not your goal or your dream. That means you need to dream bigger, you need to reach higher, jump further. Look at our current economy, it is in shambles. People are waiting for jobs! Why wait! Have you never had a dream? If not than I feel bad for you if you have- WHAT are you waiting for! Fear holds us all back. Fears make us stop when we need to move forward, fear is what hinders us all. Trust in yourself, your loved ones, and God. Faith that you will, you can and YOU WILL!

My wife and I have to face our fear everyday! We face the bills, the work, people that think we are nuts. I may be just words on a paper. I may be someone you wish to be or not. But, unlike some people you read about or see on TV, I am you. I feel the fear, I just have learned that I need to trust in me and face the fear. If I do not that I will never achieve my goals. I will never be the person I want to become! I want to be the success, and help others, I know I will be and I need to break the fear cycle so I can become the person I want to be to therefore help other become the person they want to be.

By now you are probably mortified by my writing abilities. It really is that I think way faster than I type and am extremely verbal. I have actually won public speaking awards but…… I have been told suck at writing! Overlook the grammar and focus on the content. That’s the beginning of the story…….. Please come back for more. I promise to share as I go. You will see my life, my ups and downs, the good, bad and the UGLY!