Presents and motivation

[Mike Allen]

Today I received my kit and I couldn't be happier.

It has taken longer than I wanted to get to this point due to financial, banks, personal, moving, Air Force, vacation and whatever else could possibly get in the way.

Business cards were printed today and should be here within the week.

Invoices and statements will be done this week as well.

I have found a place to practice to get comfortable with the kit. After playing with it today I realized that it really isn't all that different than what I used years ago. The major difference being the plunger that pulls a vaccum. I used to use a screw type pressure only bridge and I can tell that this design is far superior without having used it yet. Tomorrow I plan to fix the 3 chips in my truck and this weekend get over to my "practice goldmine".


I say this to hopefully provide a little bit of morale boosting and assurance to some of the new folks just like myself. Maybe not in my shoes exactly but still in the hurry up and wait startup process. Keep a positive attitude. Keep the motivation by getting little things out of the way while waiting for bigger things and remember why you are doing this in the first place. Try not to get discouraged.

I'll mention some of the things that I did while waiting. I spoke with several small business owners, both long term and new owners about the finer points of ownership. Researched the NWRA and NGA. The NGA is close to where I am and I do plan to take their exam this summer. I most likely will also join the NWRA. I researched different resins and manufacturers that make them. Spent time in Borders reading small business books. Surveyed some of my competition and finalized my pricing. Setup e-mail and phone accounts. Mapped out my service area and finalized how far I am willing to travel. Through luck or fate or God's will I made a few alliances that will help me establish a customer base and get my name out. I made purchases such as office supplies, filing, useable materials (window cleaner, razor blades, etc.) Developed some rough way of filing completed invoices, receipts, advertising, calendar of appointments and sorting out office space. I say rough because as my business venture grows or fails I can adjust and fine tune as it moves along.

Please add to this list with things you've done to stay motivated through growing pains.


Screenman, Jeff, Yvan please chime in.